Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate
by NessieGG
Summary: The world can make a woman strong, and only a truly strong woman can be Kunoichi. This is the story of Uzuki Yuugao, who does not ask for strength, but finds it throughout her life by facing trial after trial that only comes from being a woman.
1. Compelled To Succeed

**Author's Notes:** This story is partly an examination of the kunoichi life and follows the life of Uzuki Yuugao, a character only briefly known in the Naruto storyline. The fic will contain spoilers for events in Naruto and will consist mostly of my own ideas about Yuugao. There will be an addition of cast members as the story progresses, and later on there will be pairings as well. Please heed the rating, as this will not always be a very merry fic.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

By Nessie

Chapter One: Compelled To Succeed

Her aunt's hand felt strange to her. There was a quality to it that was different than when she was guided in the market place or led up the stairs for bedtime. The flesh was warm as ever but too loose. The girl squeezed as tightly as her seven-year-old strength would allow, but the bigger palm did not even apply an ounce of pressure in return.

It was a harsh reminder to Uzuki Yuugao that her aunt would soon go away, and she would be left to fend for herself in the large building looming in front of her. The windows were wide and would give a good view of the outdoors, she knew, and the doors were open in welcome. Still, the bricks seemed threatening, as though they would constrict and kill her if she dared to go inside without her aunt at her side.

From her earliest days, Yuugao had feared being alone.

"Don't worry, Yuugao," came the reassurance as the older woman ran a tender row of fingers through her violet hair, recently cut short so as not to be in the way. "The Academy is not as scary as you think." But these were the same words she had heard almost daily for the past month, and they brought no comfort, like a medicine that failed to sooth.

Silent but infallibly attentive, Yuugao allowed no detail to escape her watchful vision. Dozens of children close to her age milled about the grass of the Academy's front grounds, the early-August sun highlighting a myriad of shades in their hair. Some were sobbing into the shoulders of their sympathetic parents, and others smiled while unaccompanied. Yuugao could do neither, feeling as though every emotion she had yet experienced in her young life was lost, absorbed by the irrefutable reality that she was no longer quite so young in the eyes of Konohagakure.

"Uzuki-san?" Yuugao turned her head to look up, squinting in the daylight, at the cheery man who addressed her aunt. "I see you've brought little Yuugao-chan with you." The man spoke from scarred lips. Additional scars defined the left cheekbone and the edge of his hairline, barely visible through the thick fall of dark bangs over his Leaf hitai-ate. Most noticeable was that his eyes were not quite the same shade of yellow, one slightly darker than the other. These eyes settled on the small girl and stayed there. She shifted closer her aunt.

"Hiroshi-san," her aunt greeted pleasantly. "I wasn't aware you were the Instructor for this year's Academy entrees. How lucky!"

"Not at all," Hiroshi insisted, at last taking his gaze from Yuugao to grin brightly at the kunoichi. "I merely volunteered when I was told the staff would be shorthanded this year. Actually, I heard at one time that _you _were offered the position, Uzuki-san."

"Please, call me Eiko. I was asked, as you say." Yuugao felt her heart fluttery wildly; if Aunt Eiko was her Instructor, there would be no need to be on her own! "But I don't believe that would be appropriate with my niece beginning her lessons this year. She must be treated equally and part from her guardian at the same time as other children. How else will she gain independence?"

Yuugao's hopes plummeted, though she knew Eiko said these things for her benefit.

"That's very true." Descending to one knee, Hiroshi winked into her straight face. "So you're Yuugao-chan, huh? I knew your father before you were born, and I can see your mother in you."

She stayed silent, but her hand began to tremble. As though it was a cue, Eiko extracted her fingers from Yuugao's increasingly vice-like grip. The girl reacted strongly, reaching for her so fast that she fell over Hiroshi's protruded thigh. With a laugh, the shinobi caught her, but Yuugao was out of his touch in under three seconds.

"She's fast!" he exclaimed, both surprise and delighted.

Eyes wide, Yuugao stared at her aunt in a wordless plea. Eiko looked down not unkindly but spoke in the voice she used when her niece tried to sleep in too late. "Yuugao, you're being rude to your new sensei. You should be grateful that he is available while our country is on the verge of war."

"Come on," Hiroshi invited warmly, "don't you want to become a strong ninja like your aunt and your parents?"

Yuugao's reply was given in a voice so solemn that Hiroshi's smile was extinguished like a flame. "Ninjas die."

* * *

She spoke so minimally in school that she became known as the Secret, not because she necessarily kept any but because everything about her suggested that she did. It was not unheard of for Academy children to have lost both parents in pre-war battle, as Yuugao had. What was strange was that she did not boast of the ways in which they had died per the standard defense mechanism for orphans.

Yuugao did not seek attention that way most in her age group did. Rather, she seemed to avoid it at all costs. She did not respond in class, interact with her peers at recess, or make a new friend every day. It was, in fact, not until her second year in the Academy that she allowed the company of anyone at her lunch spot – beneath a thick oak tree on the East grounds. But her observing ability was flawless, and in live practice with training weapons she could mimic a teacher's action so well that Instructor Hiroshi worried she was not learning so much as she was copying others. Her written tests were often perfect as well because she was so focused, if not scholarly.

In response to her icy demeanor, she was treated cruelly by her classmates. Though her teachers surmised this was only because Yuugao did not seem to possess the same flaws as the rest of them. She was beautiful in appearance, talented in her studies, and ranked the highest in her class. The only thing that could be held against her was seized and expanded upon as much as possible: she was a girl.

A group of energetic boys watched with hateful glared as she took her turn throwing shuriken and kunai at a dummy post. They whispered among themselves while she launched blade after blade, often several at a time, always hitting vital points. She never expressed any displeasure or joy at these triumphs; she could simply walk away and wait for the next task assigned to her.

That weapons had become her specialty seemed to set off most of the would-be shinobi in her age group. No one had yet dared advance on her beyond a shouted insult that went ignored each time, but when Hiroshi had gone inside to see to a substitute teacher's needs, the whispering cluster of boys made their move.

"Uzuki, I heard your parents were killed when Cloud-nin used a simple bit of genjutsu," one boy sneered, "and they died from going crazy right away."

"Nah," interjected another one, jerking a little when Yuugao's dark eyes went to him, "my dad told me about it. The Uzukis got killed from a couple shuriken to the throat!"

A chorus of responses ("that's freaking lame," "who dies from that?") met Yuugao's ears. Though uncommonly reserved, a seven-year-old's detachment only can go so far, and she swiveled on a boy who had intended to sneak up behind and hold her while his friends distracted her. His hands got as far as the ends of her hair before she spun, palming the hilt of the kunai she had not thrown, and sent a straight, shallow gash streaking red across his forehead.

The boy's eyes widened fractionally more with each second that passed until he realized that blood from the cut was dripping into them. "Sen…" He choked, finding his voice late. "Sensei….SENSEI!"

The title went up like a chant until all fourteen of Yuugao's fellow students went racing toward the school, shouting for their teacher, relishing that there was impending trouble for the oh-so-perfect classmate. She did not move, standing in the grass with traces of blood falling from her kunai's edge, the spring breeze fluttering her hair.

Hiroshi came, and behind him followed the eager children, each of them holding their breath in wait for the outcome. The grim line of her sensei's marred mouth told Yuugao that he knew what had happened. With his yellow eyes on her, he said, "Shirada."

The boy, Shirada, came forward, the cut still bleeding wretchedly even though he held a hand to it.

"What is an important rule to being a shinobi? What do we _never _do, or else our honor is completely taken from us?"

Shirada's mouth fell open as his mind settled on one of the very first things he had ever been taught at the Academy. "We…we don't betray our comrades?" He ended interrogatively, as though he hoped he was wrong.

"Correct." Hiroshi turned to him, his expression baleful. "You may go home. Tell your father you are suspected from my classroom for the next month. Tell him I expect a conference with him before the weekend. Should he fail to show, I will visit your home myself. Is this understood?"

Shirada, now pale in all visible skin, nodded vehemently. Hiroshi nodded back, and the boy fled. The following silence in the yard seemed nearly palpable as all eyes left Shirada's retreating form and returned once again to Yuugao. Her face was as blank as it had been before the incident.

"Return to the room," Hiroshi ordered, and his students obeyed, disappointed. He fell into step beside Yuugao as she, too, moved toward the school. The back of his hand brushed her elbow as it swung at her side, and he sharply pulled away. "You realize, of course, that taking your weapon to him was wrong?"

She nodded curtly, though she did not fully agree. _He _had attacked _her_, and the kunai had been the simplest way to defend herself.

"Answer me, please, Uzuki."

"Yes, sir."

Her voice, so rarely heard, seemed to stun Hiroshi for a moment before he continued. "Make sure you realize too, Yuugao, that this is not to be the last of your trials. In our current times, kunoichi is still a strange word. Female ninja are not yet fully accepted. You will be criticized and treated as lesser than a man, regardless of your skills."

"Yes, sir." This she was more than aware of, yet comprehension made her despise it no less.

"Do you want to be a kunoichi, Yuugao?"

She stopped walking. Hiroshi halted a few paces in front and looked back, puzzled. Her brows had knitted together in thought.

"Well?"

Yuugao looked up at the sky, gray with an impending rainfall. "It doesn't matter what I feel, sensei. That is one of the highest rules of a ninja. Isn't it?"

Hiroshi exhaled, his face showing a feeling she did not recognize. "Yes, Uzuki. It unfortunately is."

* * *

In school she was unsurpassable, yet she still strove to improve. No matter what her talent suggested, Yuugao did not long for acknowledgement or recognition. She did not want fame or glory. Honor even mattered little to her since she believed it was an individual value.

But she had heard of Hatake Kakashi, a Chuunin at age seven, and now that the Land of Fire was at war, she wanted nothing more than to rise to his level of skill, if it were at all possible. Upon her graduation from the Academy, Hiroshi left the teaching job there to become the team leader for her two Genin shinobi. She had experienced war, fought in battles that had come to Konoha, and seen the death of her uncle under the poisoned senbon of a Cloud-nin before her tenth birthday. It was not until a week after the sealing of the Kyuubi and, as a result, the end of the war that she came into association with Kakashi.

She was airing laundry at home with her Aunt Eiko. The day was bright but the neat house no longer held the same resolute joy that had been present before the war. Her father's sister-in-law had given in to her age, moving with far less energy than she used to. The deaths of her husband and the Fourth Hokage had proven to be too much stress for Eiko's will, and as a result she had buckled. The way she spoke to Yuugao was almost as short and detached as the way Yuugao spoke to her.

But Yuugao heard her crying herself to sleep each night from across the hall.

"I was informed by a friend of mine, an aide of the third, that the boy named Hatake Kakashi returned from a dangerous mission three days ago." Eiko spoke with a grim set to her mouth that used to always be smiling.

Yuugao paused in the act of folding a bed sheet over the line. Her foster mother knew of her admiration for Kakashi's work as a shinobi, but the woman had never opened the topic herself. Curious, she turned her brown eyes to Eiko.

"Apparently his teammate, Rin, has retired from ninja work, citing her reason as an overload of grief. It's said she never was the same ever since that Uchiha boy died on a mission with her and Kakashi."

The young kunoichi had heard of the sorrowful event, both the facts and the rumors; that Uchiha Obito had died, that Kakashi had nearly betrayed his teammates, that Rin had performed some type of impromptu surgery. Yuugao had chalked most of it up to hearsay, though she had seen the Uchiha clan funeral procession shortly after the Fourth's team had returned.

Eiko had little more information to offer, so Yuugao followed the story to satisfy her interest. As details became available, she learned that the medical kunoichi was to be permanently on-staff in the Konoha medical unit. Yuugao, now an eleven-year-old Genin, skipped a scheduled training day with her team (the Genin shinobi, she was sure, would be defeated by the strain before the year's end) to meet her in person.

She was easily found, working in the office of the Konoha hospital, reviewing accounts for the hospital's renovation after damage had been done during an ambush from Sunagakure. The wounds inflicted by the war were still painfully new in many places around Konoha, the least benign being the medical areas. It made sense, strategically, for the enemy to take out the healers as efficiently as possible, and true, Konoha was the culprit of many such attacks. Yuugao, however, could not help but consider the maneuver to be in bad taste.

Rin was a slim woman, and most likely her position had been as a doctor first and a fighter last. She looked as though she could be easily overtaken, though Yuugao spotted a potential for impressive accuracy simply in the way she moved pen over paper. The skill would not be honed as well as her own, even though Rin was four years Yuugao's senior. It seemed a sad thing to Yuugao that a girl of fourteen, not even entered in her prime, had given up her ninja career due to the emotional toll war took on people.

"Rin-sempai?" Unused to addressing others, Yuugao felt a surge of defenses rush forward and try to block in her feelings, but the violet-haired girl fought through it. The medical kunoichi looked up from her paperwork and gave an automatic yet genuine smile.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm…" Those defenses were like a wall, and she stepped into the crowded hospital office to push herself. "My name is Uzuki Yuugao. I'm the kunoichi for Hiroshi-sensei's team?"

Rin turned in the swivel chair to face her fully, her long hair swinging with the about-face. "Ah, I've heard of you, I think. The girl with the affinity for weapon handling. One hundred percent accuracy." At this, she gave a short laugh. "Hiroshi-sensei was a friend of my sensei. He bragged about you to the Fourth a couple of times, and I overheard."

Had Yuugao been any more susceptible for embarrassment, she would have blushed from hairline to neckline. "To the Fourth…he mentioned me?"

"He sure did. Actually," Rin continued, rifling through some files on her desk, "you're one of the students we get alerts on. It's expected that you'll be brought here for self-inflicted injuries given your choice of battle focus, but the truth is we have more records on your opponents than you." Looking back up, it was obvious she expected Yuugao to be amused or possibly ashamed, but the younger girl showed neither. "Well, you're a quiet one, I see. Was there anything you needed from me?"

Now that the point had been asked for, Yuugao was not entirely sure what she had come for. To ask what it had been like to be on the same team with Hatake Kakashi would make her sound like an airhead crushing an impressive shinobi, and Yuugao did not want her real wonderings to be taken in the wrong context. "I suppose, I…I wanted to ask…what drove you to give up being a kunoichi?"

The question out, Rin's smile fell to be replaced with open-mouthed surprise. Yuugao's hands formed fists at her sides, and she waited to be told that she was a foolish child stepping over boundaries by asking rude things of her elder village mates. No such rebuke came. After a minute of uninterrupted silence, Rin leaned back in her chair and regarded Yuugao solemnly.

"You were told I collapsed under the stress, weren't you? Don't worry," Rin added when Yuugao's eyes widened as she sought an excuse, "it's all right. That was the reason put into circulation among the villagers. I could not be expected to pass undetected by the public eye. My team has had too much attention." When her visitor did not make a reply, she stood up and took a few steps forward. Yuugao's hand went to the doorframe, as though she would have pressed against it for moment had she decided to flee. She stayed where she was, though, and waited. "The truth," confessed her senior kunoichi, "is that Kakashi asked me to retire from live combat."

Yuugao's eyes shot to Rin's. Whatever she had been expected, it had not been that. She had always heard that Hatake Kakashi lived for the battle and only abided those who did the same. Rin must have seen these sentiments and more in Yuugao's face, for she only smiled once more. "It was to fulfill a promise that he made to our dead Obito. I did not want to be the reason that promise was not kept, so I did as he asked. I'm very content to make myself useful here," she concluded honestly.

Yuugao did not know why, but she felt urged to respond. It was as though this young woman's earnestness had demanded a return confession from her. "I feel compelled to succeed," she murmured at last. "I wish to see the world's opinion of female ninja change. For them to see that we are not worthless, that we are just as important as the shinobi of this village."

At that, Rin chuckled, and Yuugao felt instantly hurt. It was not a new feeling, but it had not directly affected her many times in her life as she had so often kept herself locked away from anyone else's influence. But she had opened herself up to Rin, perhaps without realizing it, and now faced the consequences.

"You aren't the first of us to wish for that, Yuugao. I believe every woman on the battlefield yearns for equality at some time. The remarkable thing is that it is never a desire had for ourselves personally, but for the rest. For the sisters who shed blood like we do, that they may be recognized." Tearing herself from her reverie, Rin shook her head a little. "Not an impossible dream, mind you, but a faraway one."

"Why?"

The question was asked so simply that Rin's smile came and stayed this time. "Because for now, this world of ours belongs to men. Our happiness comes from knowing that, without us, they would have nothing."

It was an unusual conversation for two young girls; one only eleven, the other fourteen. But this is what a life of ninja training and the horror brought on by war did to children. It made them think – while they still were alive to do so.

Strangely satisfied, Yuugao gave a slow nod and made a low bow. She was thinking of leaving when Rin stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She tensed in reaction, and then slowly relaxed.

"Why don't you come again tomorrow? We can discuss the topic more thoroughly."

It was a strange sort of beginning, Yuugao realized that evening when she was sitting in bed throwing plastic darts at the target drawn on her wall and making bull's-eye after bull's eye. Trusting someone was frighteningly new. She had never fully trusted her teammates or even Hiroshi-sensei.

But she was finding with each fresh remembrance of Rin's smiles and honest answers that she found the feeling positive. And maybe it was time she gave herself up to positive.

_To Be Continued_


	2. Something To Hide

**Warnings: **Mature themes, including sexual abuse.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Two: Something To Hide

By Nessie

Yuugao began to visit Rin on a daily basis, usually between training sessions when she was having lunch. At first she never initiated conversations, preferring to listen as Rin recounted an interested story from the morning shift at the hospital. She was not wholly uninvolved in their meetings and would respond as manners required. For the most part, though, she would stay in her element of observation.

Her teachers wondered what had inspired her to freely associate with the older girl, whose battlefield reputation (the only thing Yuugao had only ever expressed eager interest in) was far below that of other working kunoichi in the village.

Rin, however, was also good at using her eyes. "You're always so quiet, Yuugao. Why don't you ever ask me what you _want _to ask me?"

Surprised by the bluntness and not used to it, Yuugao hesitated as she always did before speaking. Even though she resented the fact that her greatest weakness was her difficulty with putting her thoughts into words, she felt more comfortable talking to Rin than she ever had with anyone else, even Aunt Eiko. "It's isn't polite," she quietly answered, "to question people on their hardship."

Rin's eyes, rather than saddening, gleamed with some unrevealed amusement. This was perhaps the efficient counter Yuugao had to her aversion for speech; she was capable of reading the emotions of others even if she did not outwardly express her own.

"That may be true," said the older girl, casting her gaze on the wall Yuugao leaned against. "However, I believe it is better to learn from another's experiences if you can, instead of waiting for the same unhappiness to come to you. I do the same as you, Yuugao – I hide everything I feel from everyone I know." Her smile came slowly, and there was a bittersweet quality to it. "We're taught that, as women _and _ninja, that's the best way to live. But after all I've been through, I disagree."

She blinked her reverie away and looked at Yuugao again. "So go ahead. Ask me."

Yuugao stared as she comprehended her sempai's words. The feelings flitted across Rin's face like a shifting kaleidoscope, dazzling but brief, each one adding more confusion to her muddled mind. "What does it all mean?" she began suddenly. "The wars, the deaths, the way you try to help some survive even while most in our village are sent to ensure that some don't? Don't you ever feel as though your life is worthless – especially now that you no longer fight?"

Her breathing hitched and came faster. It was possible she had never said so much at once in her life. "Are you haunted by your teammate's death? Do you feel disgraced by Kakashi's request for you to retire? What do you—" she had to stop, winded by her own breakthrough of communication. "What do you _live_ for?" she demanded at last, and it was clear that this question was the one she craved an answer to; because deep, deep inside, it was the question Yuugao posed to herself.

Rin's smile had broadened so much that she had actually started to laugh. Yuugao instantly felt the gumption inside begin retreating back to its unreachable place. But Rin, though they had only met half a month before, stepped forward to pull Yuugao into an embrace. And Yuugao, for once, did not stiffen or try to break free.

"I live for moments like this," Rin murmured, her tone plainly fond. "I don't think you'll go back to how you were, Yuugao. It's like you've found your voice."

Shock prevailed for several moments, until at last Yuugao lifted her arms and used them to encircle Rin's taller frame, returning the hug.

It was the true beginning to their friendship.

* * *

Rin proved herself a loyal and dedicated companion over the next two years. It was fortunate the purple-haired girl had found another female to connect with because puberty did not wait. Yuugao's body underwent changes she had not been warned of by her now-taciturn aunt, and Rin was there to keep her informed and advised on how to cope with her form that grew and morphed even as she continued her work as a Genin. By age thirteen, the Uzuki daughter had obtained a nearly perfect figure, from her sizeable bust (which she hated, for binding them each morning was a chore) to her slim hips and lengthy legs. 

In seeming retaliation to these physical alterations, Yuugao continued to wear her hair short, since it was the one aspect of her appearance that she could fully control. Rin often commented that it was so unique and beautiful she should consider wearing it long, but the comment always went ignored.

It was a surprise to Konoha later that year that the Chuunin Exams were going to be administered differently. Instead of villages testing their own individually, Genin from surrounding countries were to travel to Konoha (the largest ninja town and the most accessible) and compete with each other in an attempt to prevent another war from tearing the lands apart.

Yuugao began to break away from her team and trained either on her own or with Rin, who was decidedly more enthusiastic about the Exams than Yuugao, even though she had already achieved Chuunin status.

"You'll go upward in rank!" she exclaimed during one practice session, when she was practicing synchronizing her replacement clones as they threw kunai. "You won't have to walk dogs or feed deer anymore!" Rin gave Yuugao a nudge in the shoulder. "I know I was stoked about that before my Exam."

Yuugao did not feel any particular excitement, if only because her confidence was so high. She knew down to the minute how long and how hard she had worked herself; three times as much as the generally unmotivated boys on her team (new boys – as she had predicted, the other two had dropped from the shinobi profession to apprentice as butchers together). They would be promoted, as she would, but they would not go much further. Yuugao, on the other hand, intended to go all the way.

In the week before the Exams, her training intensified. Rin complained of her ruthless regime and worried that she would overexert herself or cause herself injury, but she sparred and did as her friend commanded.

Hiroshi-sensei was a factor Yuugao had no say over. Since she refused to train with the team on the plea that her teammates' defensive skills were inferior to Rin's and detrimentally low for a weapons specialist, he insisted on supervising her separate training sessions.

Yuugao had been training at night in a wooded area set well apart from the inhabited land of Konoha. Because she had heard past proctors out in the forests after sunset, she was fairly certain there would be a nighttime trial in the Exams. Normally both Rin and Hiroshi-sensei would be there to offer assistance where she asked for it or not), but tonight – three days before the first test – Rin had left at dusk to cover a late shift at the hospital.

Hiroshi was still present, however, watching Yuugao fly up in the tree branches. She was little more than a shadow beneath the leaves, throwing an arsenal of blades summoned by scroll at marked targets thirty feet in the air. She could feel Hiroshi's ceaseless witnessing and disliked it, but Yuugao knew better than to ask him to depart. It was not too difficult to ignore him, either, because she was finding that she enjoyed training in the dark. There was a freeing sensation in the cording of muscles as she tossed shuriken and senbon, while the chilled breeze cooled her sweat and the moon lit her way.

Yuugao had only been on day mission up until now, but her young mind wondered if she would not fare better in the pre-dawn hours.

Thinking this, she paused on a low branch to tie her hair back with a bit of string from her kunai pouch. The deep-colored tresses fell no further than the point of her chin but strands had been getting caught in her mouth, annoying her to distraction. She brought her hand up to gather it at the base of her neck.

Yuugao did not feel a threatening presence until her slim wrist was caught in a much larger hand. She tried to whirl, reaching for a remaining weapon, but the movement was predicted and intercepted. With an audible intake of breath, the girl lost her footing on the branch, and the weight shift upset her attacker as well. Both went tumbling forward from the tree, the yards taking seconds to fall through, and Yuugao landed on her stomach, breaking her fall with a bit of chakra pooled into one hand. She could feel bone cracking in her ribs with the impact, and the assailant landed on top of her, his nose digging into her right shoulder blade.

Winded, she almost did not recognize the voice when a rough curse met her ear. But, she _did _recognize, and Yuugao twisted on the ground until her eyes met another pair: bright yellow and practically burning in the dark.

"Hiroshi-sensei…"

"What _is _it with you, Uzuki?" But the eyes, frightening as they were, were glassy and faraway. "You never want to train with the team. If you did, you'd have known before now it was me."

That was not true. Hiroshi's single flawless talent was his capacity for stealth. It had been the one thing Yuugao had admired him for, unlike the hero-worshipping boys her taught.

Her breath came raggedly. Yuugao didn't know what was going on, not even when Hioshi pushed her onto her back, taking no care to be gentle. She struggled on instinct, but he kept her pinned to the spiky grass with his hands on her wrists, one leg flung over her knees to limit squirming. Strong though she was, a girl more than half the age of an experienced shinobi could not hope to compare with his physical power.

"Haven't I told you, Uzuki, you look so much like your mother?"

She tried shouting, but Hiroshi did not concern himself. Though there was distant rustling in the woods, she was unused to raising her voice, and the sound didn't carry.

"She was beautiful too," he continued. Yuugao knew he did not speak to her any more than she was glad of his touch. She saw him holding himself over her, a smear of stain against the starry summer sky. His eyes were two stars as well, malicious and intent with lust. Muscles spasmed all through her, but she could not even kick.

Hiroshi's hands were wildly rough, squeezing and pinching and groping and pulling. It was when he untied the drawstrings holding up her uniform pants that her eyes, like his, filmed over with a sheen. She stilled in her shock, facing the east where the sun would rise. If dawn broke, she thought, would he leave her alone?

Memories pervaded her vision: Hiroshi passing her a kunai, his fingers lingering over hers beyond what propriety deemed right and thinking nothing of it. Hiroshi commenting on her stance, then gripping her hips to correct it. Mentions of her mother, thousands of them. The man had recited her every detail. Never had he breathed a word of her father, except for the few on her first day at the Academy.

"You were his friend," she finally whispered, but Yuugao felt removed from herself, as though she were only watching the event rather than being the victim of it. Observing, as she always did.

Hiroshi froze for moment at her murmured accusation. Then he lowered his head, and she squeezed her eyes shut as his lips passed down the smooth column of her neck before answering. "She chose him over me." And he moved.

Her hands gripped grass and dirt while he did as he pleased. The pain…Yuugao found herself thinking of her early childhood, when a fall down the stairs or a scrape from a thorn had sent her stumbling back into the house, crying for her aunt. She considered in her torment that Hiroshi was only the second person to ever witness her tears.

Yet when he got up and dressed, leaving her – a mass of filthy skin and loose hair, spotted with bruises, blood on the grass beneath her, breast binds all torn – Yuugao believed he had never really seen _her_ at all. He had seen only a girl who resembled a woman. Not a heart and certainly not a kunoichi. Nothing.

* * *

Afterward, the Secret had something to hide. 

She took the Chuunin Exams as planned. A scalding shower had hidden the evidence of any suspicious happenings from Aunt Eiko, and Yuugao's impenetrable silence was nothing anyone was unaccustomed to. Rin noted on the day before the first test that she had seemed unusually distracted, and perhaps that was true, though it was not that night that held so much of Yuugao's attention. She was more concerned with how it would affect her as a kunoichi, if there would be any repercussions at all.

Though his position as her sensei required him to be there, she did not directly associate with Hiroshi for the duration of the Exams. The mind puzzle in the first test was easily won, and her team triumphed over the Forest of Death due mostly to her special skills with chakra in relation to weapons. Her energy-powered shuriken had slain vicious beasts and incapacitated dozens of competitors for three straight days.

As she had expected, the Genin shinobi from her team lost their battles in the preliminary matches. She proceeded on to the finals after defeating a shinobi from the Land of Wind whose skills were well-honed but one-dimensional and no challenge for her variety of combat style. Her damaged rib did little to hinder her.

It was not until the mandatory physical examination following her win in the finals that any attention came to her. At first, Yuugao had not been able to understand why the middle-aged woman who performed the physical seemed so upset; the excitement of the Chuunin Exams had left her blissfully focused on the task at hand. With her goal met, she was thrown into the reality of what had happened to her. And when Rin rushed into the medical room, exclaiming that she had just been informed of the signs found on Yuugao's body, the younger girl felt the pressure begin to build.

"You have to tell me, Yuugao." Rin, though only seventeen, spoke with the authority of a grown, full-fledged doctor. "If it was one of the visiting shinobi, action must be taken. The Chuunin Exam Committee has to know so they can make sure nothing like this happens again. Who…"

But Yuugao bent over, her forehead pressed to her knees. The hands Rin's had on her shoulders began to shake. Belatedly she realized it was because her own body was trembling horribly.

"Yuugao?"

She allowed Rin to hold her while she released all of it: the anger, the fear, the sensation of betrayal, the guilt. While Yuugao was not so blind as to believe Hiroshi was not to blame, she believed too that, had she been more astute, she could have prevented his attack. In a way, she thought she had let it happen.

But Rin assured her she had done nothing of the sort, and while Yuugao was not sure of that, she _was _sure of one thing: Her rape was the reason she had begun to openly _feel_.

And what she felt foremost was hate.

After that day, Third Hokage was informed of a Konoha Jounin's treachery, and Hiroshi was dismissed from service and banished from the village. Yuugao's case was considered highly confidential, and no more than five people knew she was even involved. A committee was formed for annual psychological exams to be mandatory for any working Konoha ninja over the age of fifteen.

And Uzuki Yuugao began to let her hair grow.

_To Be Continued_


	3. Clandestine Meeting

**Author's Notes**: Thanks to those who are reading. The feedback is very much appreciated. This chapter is a little shorter, but I really felt like it stood on its own. We meet a very familiar figure…

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Three: Clandestine Meeting

By Nessie

Two years later, Yuugao saw herself to fifteen. There was little left to grow on her physical form – she had nearly reached her full height, her hair touched the unmarred slopes of her shoulders, and her eyes had not lightened in color or intensity.

Her circumstances, like those of many others in Konoha, had changed. She was no longer the orphan girl left to an unfortunate aunt and uncle. Aunt Eiko had died the previous winter. The cause, Yuugao had estimated, went no further than the absence of her uncle, Eiko's husband. The woman had lost energy more and more as her niece had grown, despite Konoha's increasing prosperity; the effect like that of an ice cube melting in the sun.

Yuugao had been sitting at the dining table, her entire arsenal of weapons spread before her to await polishing and sharpening. Eiko, with a cup of hot tea as her armament, had complained of a cold brought on by the ruthless weather and gone to bed early. Her niece had found her the following morning, seemingly asleep yet never to awake. The tea lay cold and spilled across the wooden floor beside Yuugao's guardian's bed.

Childless themselves, her aunt and uncle had left the house and everything in it to her. Yuugao had either donated the majority of the wares inside to the orphanage she had been spared from or sold them for new mission gear. She did not partake of unnecessary conveniences or pleasures. The kunoichi known as Uzuki lived her life in a far from pampered, need-based way.

Her aunt and uncle now lay in the ground in Konoha, near to her parents' resting places. All four of those names were inscribed on the sacred stone where many went to offer prayers each day.

Rin was no less of a friend than she ever had been, though she spent less time training with Yuugao and more at the hospital. It seemed she had finally parted ways with her former career, and was happily detached. Yuugao could not understand it; battle was the only thing that kept her blood surging and her mind still. Restlessness impeded her when she was doing something as simple as sitting for breakfast. Often she had to train until exhaustion overtook her if she hoped for any real night's sleep.

It was in the beginning of autumn, when night winds were still warm enough for her to wear only one layer of clothing, that Yuugao met Hatake Kakashi for the first time. He and Rin were still on speaking terms, and the older girl even took her meals with her former teammate as often as three times a week. Why Yuugao had never been introduced to the White Fang's son was the one question she had never asked Rin, and the one Rin had never freely invited her to ask.

In the end, it was not an introduction by Rin that brought Yuugao and Kakashi to acknowledgement of each other. The famous shinobi simply did was her was known to do: appear.

Yuugao worked with a fuuma shuriken, passed it spinning between her hands until she knew its dimensions and curves and lethal points as well as she knew her own body. She held no fear of the weapon, though she knew it posed as much danger for her as it would for anyone else. The possibility of injury that accompanied weapon use was something she felt a strange, sincere reverence for. It was an honest way of dying, in her opinion, more so than the chakra tricks of jutsu. To be cut and bled by a katana's arc or an arrow's piercing was open, undisguised. And while she did not think herself noble of character, Yuugao thought weapons use itself a noble art.

It was when she was lost in these musings, her hair blown back by the wind as she jumped to and fro between fence posts in the yard behind her own house, Yuugao felt a presence beside her own on the property. If it was a child playing pranks, she meant to give them a good jolt in advice of keeping clear of her place. Her left hand still manipulating the whirling fuuma shuriken, she faced the source of the presence and let fly a short, thick-handled kunai.

There was a swift repositioning of shadows, and a man unfolded himself seemingly from the air. One gloved hand reached up to catch the kunai by the flat of its blade. Yuugao exhaled in a huff, her eyes widening only slightly as they took in the moon-pale hair rising in spikes from a high-held head. Only a third of his face was visible, everything from the nose down covered by a simple yet effective mask. His left eye was covered by his Leaf hitai-ate, cast at a downward slant.

Yuugao, in her surprise, was moved to readjust her grip on the fuuma shuriken and drop to the center of her back yard, knee bending to steady her landing. "Hatake-san," she murmured politely by way of greeting, her voice remaining unshaken. Unsure, she hesitated. "I did not mean to attack. I merely thought—"

"You can't be expected to do anything but defend yourself." Her eyes rose to his as she straightened to full posture in front of him. "Even if it is only your privacy that has been infiltrated." As though to assure her of no hard feelings, he took the necessary steps forward and extended the hand that had caught the kunai.

She took it automatically and didn't react when her bare fingers lightly brushed the tips of his gloved ones. Kakashi, however, gave a slight pause before saying, "You don't speak much, do you?"

Yuugao was as close to entranced as she had ever been. She remembered the unwitting admiration she had held for this person in her younger days; it had been her original reason for that first visit to Rin's office. Up to now, she had only beheld Hatake Kakashi from a distance, and that was how he had seemed to her – insubstantial, like an idea or a story, not a real man so much as an impression. For her, he had been a goal, his strength something she had longed to achieve.

And while she was not as without identity as she had been in those days, her repertoire of missions and in-village assignments having caught the eye of a variety of cell recruiters, Yuugao still found herself lacking when compared to a shinobi of legend. She knew gender had nothing to do with it, not really, but now and then she caught herself wondering what stage of her career she would be at had she been born a son instead of a daughter.

As for Kakashi himself, his appearance alone proved to Yuugao that he was more than just a legend. The hair gleamed in the moonlight, which threw the bones of his face and the folds of his clothes into sharp relief. The fact that he was young – nineteen years only – was apparent even if his well-trained stance suggested otherwise. She saw the non-elaborate training ensemble he wore, briefly envying his Jounin vest – earned, she recalled suddenly, at only thirteen.

_What had she done at thirteen?_ a part of her asked in bitter disappointment. Risen to Chuunin level, but only after being the useless plaything of a man who had never truly respected her ambition as a kunoichi.

"Are you alright?"

Blinking rapidly to clear the images that had settled in her mind's eye, Yuugao focused her vision on Kakashi's one visible eye – deep black in the shades of the night, peering at her with a degree of concern. "Yes," she answered at once, wondering at the obvious emotion in him. She had been told for years, had even though for a minute upon his arrival, that Hatake Kakashi had habits of hiding his true feelings not dissimilar from her own. That he would ask after her…

"You grew very pale for a second," he explained, his right eye angling downward in a bit as he supposedly smiled from behind the mask. "Perhaps you've been training too long, Yuugao?"

His voicing of her name brought her careening back to her initial question. "Please…I don't mean to be rude – but did you have some business at my home, Hatake-san?"

"Hey, hey!" Kakashi exclaimed. "There's no need for such a formality. Say 'san' if you must, but at least call me by my first name." He waited until the invitation/order sunk in, and then continued, "I am only here to get a look at you, Yuugao. Rin speaks so highly of you, and yet she did not want to interfere with our meeting. So I took the liberty of coming to you on my own."

She hardly knew what to say to _that_. That Rin had mentioned her in a positive light to Kakashi made Yuugao feel both defensive and rebellious at once. This man could defeat her in fewer blows than she had fingers on her left hand, and he had been trained by the Fourth Hokage himself. His parentage was renown throughout the village, which was more than could be said for Yuugao. The Uzuki name was still one of little repute, after all.

Something like the urge to fight him rose defiantly within her. Immediately shocked at herself, Yuugao spoke rashly, something she never did. "Do you intend to join ANBU?"

He stared then, and it was not humiliation she experienced so much as a fervid confusion she directed at herself. Not only was her way of breaching the subject utterly rude, a ninja's decision to join the special division known as ANBU was completely personal and not to be revealed to or influenced by an outside force unless it was the wish of the one considering enlisting.

Countless apologies were halfway to her tongue when the shinobi did something wholly unexpected – he laughed. And Yuugao stared at him as he had at her, mentally wishing she had a time-reverse jutsu so she could go back and erase that blunder. She had clearly just made enough of a fool of herself to inspire amusement, and that sort of weakness was exactly…her inner rebukes were cut off by Kakashi's reply.

"Actually, yes, I do have the intention." Still boggled, Yuugao could only pay attention and feel honored to be told such a private piece of information from one such as Kakashi. "But of course, there are the trials. We'll have to see if I will be accepted into—"

"You will." Twice in one night, now, had she spoken so unthinkingly! Yuugao was about ready to take the fuuma shuriken she still held and stab herself with it.

Another laugh, and he folded his shoulder hunched a few inches as he visibly relaxed. Tension, in turn, pervaded every muscle she had. "It's possible, I guess. Anyway, it's a kind thing to say, Yuugao." Kakashi merely watched her for a breath's time, and Yuugao recognized the expression even if most of his face was hidden from sight. It was the waiting look of one who anticipated a blush from the other. When not so much as a spot of color came to Yuugao's cheek, he took a step back. "I've bothered you enough. We both should really get some sleep, don't you agree?"

She had the thought to respond, to insist that he was not any kind of imposition. The kunoichi decided against saying anything, now that she knew she had the capacity for bumbling her words and not just failing to form them.

Kakashi headed for the shadows at the back row of fencing from which he had emerged. Pausing, he stood still and turned his face halfway back to her. "You know, it's strange, Yuugao. You aren't at all what I've heard people claim you are."

Knowing what "people" claimed, Yuugao's young mind could not resist the oddly pleasant puzzlement the mysterious shinobi's comment called forth. "Kakashi-san?"

"Not at all," he murmured. "Then again, I have no wish to judge you. You are what you are, and that should be good enough for me. For anyone, really – a capable kunoichi." Facing her fully once more, he said, "Perhaps you should think about joining ANBU too, Yuugao."

And then he was gone, a part of the shadows and the fog heralding impending daybreak. Yuugao stood alone, her training perspiration all cooled and the fuuma shuriken's weight aching her arm.

Her confusion dissipated like that fog would when the sun burned through it. It was replaced by an unprecedented satisfaction the likes of which she had not yet known.

She recalled, of her own free will, that night of two years ago when she had seemingly been torn apart, piece by piece, at the hands of a person she had been told by all to trust. Since that day, she had been constantly on her guard. Some of that impregnable defense now thinned.

More than that, Yuugao relived the notion she had had when she had been flying in the treetops under the moon, darkness around her unthreatening. She had felt intended for the night.

ANBU – those ninja who immersed themselves in the nighttime for business unimaginable by the rest of the reserves in Konoha – seemed not only a logical choice, but a clear one, as clear as a newly-wetted sword.

It had nothing to do with Kakashi, she Yuugao understood. With her perfect aim, she threw the fuuma shuriken at the reinforced iron rack protruding from the side of her house. The dangerous tool slid onto the line of metal with a wobble and then hung sturdily. Even if a clandestine meeting between a male prodigy and a determined female had inspired the idea, she inwardly vowed to make ANBU even if he did not.

The ambition lifted her to a new height. Elevated, Yuugao felt as though a few things, at least, were a little more visible.

_To Be Continued_


	4. An Unwell Swordsman

**Author's Notes**: Thanks to those reading. Yuugao's fan base is understandably small, but it's nice to know some people are interested!

**Warnings**: Potential spoilers for recent Naruto chapters, Kakashi Gaiden, and the series at any time.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Four: An Unwell Swordsman

By Nessie

Rin was surprised when Yuugao told her of the acquaintance she had made with Kakashi, taken aback by her ex-teammate's willingness to make himself known to her friend. She explained that the Kakashi Yuugao had met in her back yard was an entirely different person than the Kakashi with whom Rin had first been assigned to Team Minato. Getting used to the less uptight, more bearable Kakashi was something she was still working at, even six years after Uchiha Obito's death.

This news, however, was not nearly as shocking to Rin as Yuugao's seemingly abrupt decision to become a member of ANBU. At first, Rin tried to persuade her away from such a dangerous path, pleading that her skills as a kunoichi were as useful in the standard reserves as they would be in any special unit.

Despite her concern, in the end it only took one look from Yuugao – the same look Rin had been given on the day Aunt Eiko had been found dead, when her friend had wordlessly dedicated her life to her work – for the medic-nin to relent and offer her services in preparation for the trials.

Ninja seeking ANBU enlistment had the option of doubling their Jounin test with the ANBU trials, completing their rise in rank as well as sealing their place in the top force in one, grueling bid for power. Most chose to undergo the two exams separately, the dual stress too much for one person at a time. Yuugao purposefully chose the former.

"But why?" Rin exclaimed in the middle of a hand-to-hand sparring match the girls held on Yuugao's sixteenth birthday. She would fight her friend in this way no other time, for it was only this day that Yuugao insisted her preferred method of celebration was in training. "You would increase your chances of accepted by a plausible thirty percent. Just make Jounin first, then you—"

"Just nothing, Rin," the younger girl replied between spins in a double-roundhouse kick that missed the first time and connected the second. "I am aware that the odds are against me. If I'm to be accepted into ANBU with such a minimalist record – no long-term sensei, majority of missions in-village – I've got to make an impression."

"You're so stubborn!" was the predictable response, though Rin said it with as much fondness as exasperation.

* * *

As expected, Kakashi made ANBU. Rin told her that he had been entered into the organization with some disgruntlement from the proctors. When Yuugao asked why, Rin only shook her head.

"He was late," she sighed. "He never used to be, not for anything. It was always Obito running behind like it was a part of his DNA."

Now that Kakashi had done it, Yuugao felt spurred on, as though the son of the White Fang had presented let's-see-what-you-can-do to her face. She was sure, though, that it would be at least another six months before she was ready for the Jounin/ANBU trials. Yuugao was not a rash person, unless a situation called for it. Impulsiveness was something she knew could get a person killed. Everything about her spoke of deliberation, from the weapon she chose to the minute movements of her body.

She spent her time training, and when she was not doing that she, naturally, observed. Reconnaissance was practically a pastime for her, and she already knew with a degree of certainty that, ANBU or not, she would be assigned to that unit.

It was in this way she learned that Kakashi was spending time almost daily at the Inuzuka estate, supposedly inspecting the dogs being trained there and doing business with the Inuzuka clan. Yuugao found out all of this on her own, though the circulation of the rumor was so great that it had almost been unnecessary for her to use any stealth at all.

She saw him only occasionally, when he came to see Rin while she was there or when Rin asked Yuugao to go with her to the memorial stone and Kakashi was already there to pay his respects.

When the time drew nearer to the registration period for her qualification exam, Yuugao redirected her usual method of training and practiced at the river. She liked the waterfall, how it misted at the bottom and sent rainbows arching in the sun, but swimming was not a skill she excelled at, and this was the very reason for which she was there. She wanted to be completely prepared for anything the ANBU proctors might toss her way, and it made sense that they would exploit her few weaknesses.

In midday, she exercised the task of throwing weapons at difficult angles, some in such a way that they would fly away and back to her for launching again. Yuugao was not alone – there was one other at the site; a man with a lean build and circles under his eyes. He did not stand in water itself but stayed on the banks practicing standard shinobi techniques – kicking and punching at trees and posts, and then occasionally taking a katana from a sheath strapped to his back to practice his arcs and angles.

He was an easily-overlooked sort, the sword in his hand the most attention-grabbing aspect of him, and he did not bother Yuugao but for a fit of coughing he endured every ten or so minutes. The only thing that concerned her was that he appeared to be very close to her age, and she was certain that she had never seen him in her life. And Konoha was not the kind of place where a person could go unknown by anyone.

The more she considered this point, the more distracted Yuugao became. After an hour she had begun to notice so much of the solitary shinobi that his coughing did begin to annoy her, and she did not like her passivity broken. She threw a final manji-shaped shuriken at the water; it went through and came streaming back, dousing her as she caught it in her strong, steady hand. She turned to uncharacteristically initiate interaction with the bag-eyed man, only to find he was already looking at her.

"What?" she asked tersely, though this was not the cool introduction she had had in mind.

The man took a bit of a jolt, visibly recoiling somewhat, though her utterance had not been sharp. "I-it's nothing," he replied, his voice thinning at the last syllable as he again broke into a series of hacking.

Yuugao walked over, removing the black ribbon that restrained her dripping violet hair so that the long strands could dry in the sun. She kept a good distance from the man, though she prosaically noticed that he was not unattractive, but sickly-looking. With discretion, his eye followed the flow of her every movement – for all she knew, he may have been as good at finding details as she was.

"You're not contagious, are you?" she asked bluntly. "I can't afford to contract any illness."

He smiled then, a soft upturn of lips, and Yuugao did not realize that the tension she had a tendency to maintain after training dissipated a little. "No, I'm not," he replied. "I'm just unlucky."

She waited, her curiosity undeniably piqued, as he cleared his throat and coughed again. "Why don't I know you?" She did not elaborate, though she thought that he had not been at the Academy, or the Chuunin Exams, or even any of the festivals Rin always forced her to attend.

His coughing bout ended, and he met her gaze as she stepped closer. "Because of this. I'm…unwell…in a way." His brow furrowed, as though he was not sure how to word it, as though no one had ever asked him before. "I was trained as a Genin individually, and took the Chuunin Exams in the same way."

"So you're a Chuunin," she noted.

"No," he corrected. "A Jounin."

This caught her by surprise. Yuugao saw no vest, but that could simply mean he had opted not to wear it that day. It was the appearance of him that suggested the impossibility of his rank. "But what team are you a part of?" she queried after a moment of contemplative silence.

"No team," said the shinobi with a straightening of his shoulders. It was unclear whether he was proud of or embarrassed by this fact. "I hope to have one if I pass the trials for ANBU."

For the first time with anyone other than Kakashi or Rin, Yuugao could not keep emotion from her voice, and the incredulity she felt rung on the riverbank. "_You're _taking the trials?"

He did not take offense to the demand. He merely reached up and scratched his brown-haired head. "Yes, that is what the Third Hokage said to me as well."

She wondered if she should apologize, but then her attention was caught by his katana as he began to stow it. The shinobi must have realized her instant shift of notice, and he paused in the action. "You're a weapons specialist, aren't you?"

Yuugao nodded, her knowledgeable mind taking in the craftsmanship before her.

"Would you like to see?" He passed the katana to her without ado, trust given practically without thought. Yuugao could never have done the same with even the smallest of her weapons – especially if the person wanting to look was an expert with them. She accepted the blade into her grasp as gently as if it had been an infant. Her deep eyes studied it from blunt hilt to sharpened point, saw the deftness in the make. While she looked, he coughed but only briefly now.

"It is a masterpiece," she praised, though her voice remained uninflected this time.

"It was made a man and his wife who died the day the Kyuubi was sealed into Uzumaki Naruto."

Yuugao paused. She had not heard anyone mention that name aloud in quite a while. That October day had also been the one during which her uncle had perished. "That doesn't narrow my choices," she told him.

He shrugged. "I don't know what the clan name was. I don't believe there was a clan. All I know them is that they were survived by a daughter. She would be seven now, I think."

The idea gave Yuugao pause, but she didn't know why. Perhaps it was because her own parents had died when she was less than a year old. Mentally shaking off the notion, she returned the katana to the shinobi with care. "Thank you," she said with a slight incline of her head.

He nodded back. Yuugao hefted the oversized scroll containing her weapons, a sign that she was preparing to go. When she turned her back, the shinobi called after her. Peering behind her, she arched a brow.

"What's your name?"

It was a reasonable question, she determined, after twenty minutes of sporadic conversation, interrupted either by his coughing or her chronic wordlessness. "Uzuki Yuugao."

"The Secret?"

"Not really," she murmured, surprising herself as well as him with the unexpected response. It hit her rather forcibly that she wanted to know who he was in return. "Who are you?"

He gave a polite bow, though the movement seemed to aggravate him, and he fought back another bout of coughing as he replied: "Gekko Hayate."

She asked nothing more of him, not wishing to somehow set him off further. Yuugao left him by the cool water but returned the next day, and the day after that, and so on – always to find Hayate and his magnificent katana, performing well-executed but unimpressive techniques. She eventually felt pity for him, a feeling she wasn't used to, wondering how in the world he expected to be received into ANBU.

His cough lessened by the day, however, and they spoke more. He was not discouraged by her dedication and drive, and Yuugao was astonished to find that it was as easy to talk to Hayate as it was to Rin. The things they had in common were abundant – both were orphans and without teams and more or less unknown in the warrior society of Konoha. Both wanted to keep it that way by joining ANBU.

They sparred, Yuugao winning each time because Hayate would worsen and improve in condition alternatively. She had the feeling there was a specific reason for his chronic state of weakness, but he never told her why, and she knew better than to ask. She had been rude to Kakashi, and she would not be rude with Hayate.

It eventually occurred to her quite randomly (she was at the bathhouse three weeks after their meeting) that unwell swordsman had become her friend.

Hayate was a little older than Yuugao, and when both of them reached seventeen years in age, they registered for the upcoming ANBU trials together. Rin joked that she had lost her best friend.

On the night before their scheduled trials, the Uzuki girl came to the river with the intention of training alone. Hayate's company was convenient, even enjoyable, but she desired the solitude to assure her focus. And so far, she had only seen Hayate here in the day.

Yet her newest friend must have had the same idea. When Yuugao came to their stretch of river, she saw from the shadows that Hayate had already arrived their. She resolved to go to another part of the river, a smaller waterfall if necessary, until she noticed that Hayate actually stood in the water this time – or, rather, on top of it using chakra.

Her pulse leapt into a heightened pace, and Yuugao did not understand. There was a feeling she had, anticipation preventing her from looking away from the sickly shinobi – less ill than usual now. Unaware of her presence, he did not move for several minutes.

And when he did, what she witnessed crumbled the foundation of her view of him to dust, and Yuugao realized that she would never think of him in the same way again.

_To Be Continued_


	5. Impractical Endeavor

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Five: Impractical Endeavor

By Nessie

"Dance of the Crescent Moon."

Gekko Hayate had power that he had never appeared capable of, a terrible, tolling power that made Yuugao's heart stop and restart at a gallop. She wondered if he had not told her of it on purpose, if he had reserved his secret until she proved her trust. It was what she would have done.

As his gentle voice, infused with a tone of determination, was carried to her on the wind, she stared openly. He ran forward at the point where an imaginary enemy might have stood (in this case a log grounded in the riverbed and protruding through the surface). Suddenly, the man who had seemed so unremarkable to Yuugao split into three versions of the same shinobi, all carrying swords, all swift and agile.

It had to have been genjutsu, Yuugao reasoned, though her inescapable wonder at Hayate's attack was not allowing her to reason very clearly. Genjutsu combined with chakra use? She wasn't sure. What she was sure of was that one of the Hayate illusions – or the real Hayata – had jumped into the air far too quickly for her eyes to keep up, and was now falling upon the targeted log. In one fluid down-stroke, the log was cut in two, breaking off from its underwater base and floating down the river, symbolically dead.

Yuugao was stunned. She watched Hayate breathing heavily, the grip on his katana's hilt tense, until he at last straightened his posture. She took one step from the shadowy bushes she had been hiding in, only to witness her friend fall on his knees atop the river's surface, coughing so violently his whole body vibrated with it.

"Hayate!" The kunoichi saw him gasp, his dark-rimmed eyes shooting to her. Unease dominated his expression, and she wasted no time in running to him and kneeling on the water. "Are you all right? That was…it was incredible!"

He continued to cough. Yuugao laid one hand on his shoulder, waiting in concern. Was he making himself ill with this jutsu? Her pulse, initially quick with exhilaration of his attack, now raced with worry for the unassuming man.

"I'm fine," he finally managed to say, accepting her hand and getting to his feet. "It always happens." Clearing his throat (and intercepted by another cough), he gave her a weak smile. "It always happens. It passes, though."

"This was why you were individually tutored?" she demanded. "So you could learn this jutsu?"

"Yes," he replied honestly. "It was a goal of mine, to master it by fifteen. Most ninja aren't capable of doing it before age thirty-five or older. My father told me—"

"Hold on," urged Yuugao, "slow down. Take a drink." She cupped a handful of river water and tipped it into his mouth without thinking much of it. Hayate's smile came stronger. "Now, tell me it all."

He explained that his goal to learn the Konoha-exclusive jutsu, Dance of the Crescent Moon, was made at five years old, when his father had been killed. The older Gekko shinobi had been an elite master of the jutsu, and Hayate had wanted to learn it in honor of him. His mother had been supportive, seeking for him personal training that would allow him to rest and train at intervals because the price of such a powerful jutsu was his health. The longer he went without using it, the better Hayate was, but the attack would always leave him slightly ill no matter his age or bodily condition.

"You'll have no problems tomorrow if you use that jutsu," Yuugao assured him, not with the intention of being kind, simply because she fully believed her own words. Envy threaded her mind only for a moment; she was not made to be able to use a sword in such a way and would have to find excellence in others.

"Thank you." Their gazes locked, a moonbeam slanting over Hayate's gaze, dark as her own. "Yuugao." One of his hands topped hers on his shoulder.

Yuugao abruptly stood. "I was planning to train for a while. Do you wish to stay?"

"No, I should go home," he explained on the arrival of a fit, "to…to rest, or else I can't use Dance of the Crescent Moon properly tomorrow."

She watched him go, the night cradling him like a child finding his way. Yuugao stood shivering in the wet for a minute, taking in the newness of Gekko Hayate's determined, accomplished side. But then she began to work for her own accomplishment, replacing the river moisture on her skin with sweat as she tossed senbon and whirled chain, last-minute sharpening for a day that could mark her life as worth or waste.

* * *

The pavilion in which the ANBU trial-takers were to meet the next morning was little more than four posts and a roof, not grand or even very large. It was simply a rendezvous point from where, Yuugao assumed, they would be led to more appropriate testing areas. 

Her guess was correct. Side by side, she and Hayate stood in battle dress, waiting patiently for directions. Yuugao watched the aspiring ninja chat in an amiable manner, discussing their predictions on what the trials would be like, if they would barely pass or pass with room to spare. No one mentioned failure.

Presently, the undersized group was approached by a uniformed ANBU kunoichi with the face of a minx etched into her mask. Though her eyes could not be seen, her voice was even and expressed her professionalism.

"Listen, please! Two groups will be formed, and then you will be guided off individually. Post-Jounin ANBU trials to your left, combination Jounin/ANBU trials to your right. Do nothing until you are told." The head of the ANBU kunoichi inclined, but Yuugao could not tell if she was smiling or not. "This isn't the Chuunin Exams. I advise you not to be too reckless."

Hayate leaned down to murmur in Yuugao's ear. "Good luck. I know you'll make it."

"Hayate…" She turned, wanting to say the same thing to him, but he was already being swept away by ANBU proctors. She followed her own much smaller group through the pavilion. It did not surprise her that she was the only female in the group to the right, nor that the men blatantly stared at her. They were all thinking the same thing, she was aware: what does a kunoichi think she's doing, making things harder on herself? Why does she choose the impractical endeavor?

"You will be tested individually," one cloaked man wearing a lion mask informed the four men and one woman he was charged with. "The point of ANBU is finding prowess in both teamwork and solitude. The first you must have gained if you've made it to Chuunin. The second, we have yet to see. You will not witness each other's testing."

One by one, the five were taken from the pavilion, led in separate directions. When Yuugao, the last to be approached, was taken away, it was by a very tall, very muscular ANBU shinobi in a mask bearing the face of a snapping turtle.

He read from a clipboard, and the mask did nothing to hinder his booming voice. "So you're Uzuki Yuugao! You are quite well-known among the proctors. A woman has not chosen to combine the ANBU trial with her Jounin Exam since…oh, possibly the Sannin Tsunade! But that was years ago!"

Yuugao might have been overwhelmed by the obvious display of wonderment had she not seen Hayate's jutsu the night before. Since then, she had learned to not judge one by his appearances or outward image. Even so, she had never met an ANBU shinobi quite so outgoing.

"Yes, you're quite a commodity, Uzuki-san. I would think you—"

"Excuse me."

At her soft interruption, he halted his friendly speech but continued walking at the same pace. "Yes?"

Yuugao's tone was without feeling, a direct counter to his. "Is this a part of my test?"

The older ninja faltered. "Er…no. I merely—"

"Then I ask you to please lend me some quiet in which to think."

"Of course. I'm terribly sorry."

In all truthfulness, Yuugao did not wish to think at all. It was just that she found this talkative Jounin fairly unbearable right now.

He led her to the eastern wood, and when they stopped Yuugao could have almost – _almost _– laughed. Her testing point was at the same river where she had trained with Hayate, only a mile or so off from the waterfall.

The day gave the clearing a perfect light, trees throwing shade here and there over the water. Several large boulders protruded from the surface as the log of last night had, and fish leapt along the rushing flow.

On one of the boulders, standing well-balanced although the rock was undoubtedly slick, was an ANBU shinobi whose mask bore the face of a wolf.

Glancing around, Yuugao pondered the absence of any more ninja.

"You've noticed, I see," said the turtle-masked shinobi, "that we three are alone here. Because you have chosen the combination Jounin/ANBU trial, I will be your only proctor." He proceeded to outline the test. "You will fight one on one with this shinobi, Uzuki-san. It is a battle of first blood. You may use seals, but you may not summon. Should you bleed your opponent before he bleeds you, you shall be both Jounin and ANBU." There came a short pause. "Should the opposite happen, we suggest you take the two exams separately next year."

This was how it was done, thought Yuugao. This was how Konoha ascertained the valuable from the indispensable. This was how they found the elite.

"Now!" continued her proctor boisterously after giving her time to take in the rules. "Are you ready?"

She nodded once.

"How about you?" he called to the shinobi on the boulder, who raised an arm to signal in the affirmative. "Then prepare yourselves." Yuugao reached for a handful of metal at her lower back. "And…begin!"

Both combatants went immediately and simultaneously on the offensive, springing toward each other with all the elasticity of a slingshot. When the first clash came, it was kunai on kunai, water spraying around them like a wave from the force of their chakra. Yuugao's lustrous hair was blown straight back; she followed up with a shuriken, not thrown but stabbed in an underhand at her opponent.

The shinobi realized the danger of the close proximity and leapt back. Yuugao took up pursuit, readying more weapons as she chased him. He ran upstream on one side of the river, Yuugao on the other. On the bank, her proctor kept up by jumping over the boughs of trees.

The ANBU shinobi unleashed a volley of shuriken, a few simple kunai dotting the attack. As skilled at avoiding weapons as she was at using them, Yuugao dodged the sharp blades and retaliated by throwing her own, though hers were sent in a far more complicated pattern. The shinobi was prepared, however, and released yet another volley, some of his shuriken stopping hers, weaving his body between the remaining. Only one of his kunai made it through.

Yuugao saw easily enough of that it would be short work to jump over – but saw, belatedly, that the blade had been tagged with an exploding note. Her eyes widened and, in the two seconds available to her, went over all possible evasion strategies, going with the best at the last moment.

Dispelling the chakra in her feet, Yuugao dropped through the water just as the kunai sailed over where her head had been, the note detonating upon her submerge. She could feel the heat of the blaze through the cool of the river and fought the current to stay in place. Eyes open, she waited for the eerie orange glow above to fade before moving to the surface again…where the shinobi was waiting for her, a short-sword in hand.

Yuugao mentally cursed. That her only escape route had been to get soaking wet infuriated her. She fought back with an oversized shuriken, not huge like her fuuma, but enough to contend with the short-sword. Her movements were sluggish, her hair and clothes heavy with river water, and the shinobi's upper body strength was overpowering her. The time spent underwater had also left her short of breath.

The kunoichi jumped back to gain some distance and reached into the pack strapped to her thigh for a coiled length of wire, stowing her shuriken at the same time. Quickly wrapping one end around her gloved right hand, Yuugao took aim and hurled the opposite end at the shinobi, using it like a whip. Her arm by itself could move just as fast as his entire body.

Just as full confidence was returning to her, a cry interrupted them: "Stop your match!"

The wolf-masked shinobi's body gave an odd jerk just before Yuugao reigned in her wire and turned to face her proctor. He stood on the shore with another shinobi, not of ANBU but of the regular reserves. That shinobi bore an expression of deep solemnity. Her proctor's voice came gravely. "You must both abandon this fight and follow us at once."

"Why?" Yuugao demanded, adrenaline boosting her courage.

"The medic-kunoichi called Rin has been seriously injured. She is just past the western gate on the other side of town."

The light seemed to tear itself from the world Yuugao saw. Everything darkened, narrowed, sharpened until every treetop and water droplet appeared as lethal as the arsenal she carried. She moved automatically, her feet carrying her forward even though she had barely comprehended the words. The three shinobi ran with her, but she gained speed until she left them behind, panic joining the adrenaline in her veins to form an awful drug.

So intent on getting to the western gate of Konoha, Yuugao had not even noticed the gash she had created in the upper left side of her ANBU opponent, blood seeping from the wound and into the black material of his uniform.

_To Be Continued…_


	6. Devastation

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading so far. A little more kunoichi angst for you. I promise, though, that Yuugao has some good times on the way.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Six: Devastation

By Nessie

By the time she had broken free of the eastern woods and was sprinting through Konoha's main streets, Yuugao could feel her lungs burning, her heart pounding an indefatigable rhythm, hundreds of voices in her head. Each little voice whispered the same thing over, and over in time with her heart: _Rin, Rin, Rin…_

Even when she leapt up to the rooftops she could not escape that horrible, unending pulse. It appeared to the civilians out and about that afternoon as though she were outrunning the three shinobi following her. But it was not _them _from which she ran; rather, she longed to lose the horror of the reality she faced – that her uncle and aunt had both died and left her to spend her nights in an empty house, and now the unspoken idea of living without her best friend loomed over her.

How gravely had Rin been injured? Why was she still at the western city limits instead of at the hospital? The messenger had not said.

Yuugao forced the questions from her mind, so focused on reaching her destination that she nearly knocked a blond-headed boy from his perch on the rooftop of Ichiraku Ramen. His bright blue eyes glared at her as he shrieked out an offended "Hey!" but she was gone before he could tell her off.

When she finally arrived at the west gate, it took only an additional five seconds to find the party in the forest. And then Yuugao wished she hadn't found them, feeling dizzy and sick with the sight that greeted her.

Rin was pinned to the trunk of a large oak, her arms pressed backwards around it, the left one angled so unnaturally that it was definitely broken. Nothing seemed to be holding her up, though her feet did not touch the ground. Holes of various sizes gaped in her torso, some deeper and bleeding more than other. Rin's head hung forward but her shoulders moved as much as possible, proving she could breathe.

"There was a missing-nin out here, saying he was sick," one white-dressed medic was explaining to someone Yuugao did not look to identify. She could not take her eyes from the woman ahead, but she could not block out the sound of the medic's voice. "We didn't want to let him into the village, so Rin-san came out to him, but he fooled us." Raw pain entered the medic's tone, his speech becoming disjointed as he went on. "He attacked her – the jutsu – we don't know what it was, it's like his chakra is keeping her up on the tree – we can't remove her without the shinobi releasing it – but he ran off, he escaped, and we can't track him – the only other way is if…if she…"

Another person hushed the apologetically stammering medic, but Yuugao did not need to hear the truth spoken aloud to recognize it. Stepping forward, she went within a foot of the older kunoichi, and her voice came out so softly it was almost unheard. "Rin?"

Rin raised her head slowly, revealing glazed brown eyes and ashen cheeks. The mist lifted from her gaze as she saw her solemn-faced visitor. "Yuugao," she murmured, a line of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. Her breath came shallowly. "Oh, Y-Yuugao…"

"Who did this to you?" the violet-haired kunoichi demanded. "Tell me."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does!" Yuugao exclaimed immediately, louder than all present had ever heard her speak. "I will—"

"No," Rin pleaded, "please just…do you remember when we were first friends, Yuugao?"

"Stop talking," she urged, not noticing it when the ANBU shinobi she had fought with came to stand by her right side.

"You asked me if I ever thought my life was worthless…because I wasn't taking missions…because I am a kunoichi." She sounded distant, a small smile touching her lips. "The truth is I have. I've felt worthless. In a world where you are judged on accomplishment rather than effort, rather than drive…it takes so very little for a kunoichi to feel worthless."

"My dear," said a man who had come to Yuugao's left side without making himself known. "You have made this village proud."

"Hokage-sama." Yuugao could not find the strength to turn and acknowledge her leader but watched Rin's eyes look at him. "Thank you."

The wolf-faced ANBU spoke for the first time. "Well done, Rin."

Yuugao's eyes went wide at the voice. In her peripheral vision, she saw the shinobi slowly remove his mask. He wore his standard blue-black cloth over his chin, mouth, and nose, but no _hitai-ate._ He brought up his free hand to touch a finger to the cheekbone beneath his right eye – marred with a vertical scar, blood-red, black dotting the iris. "And thank you for what you've done for me."

Rin only went on to turn her smile to him. "Kakashi." Her eyes drooped. "You…you were right." She coughed, blood spattering the soil and leaves on the forest floor. Hatake Kakashi moved closer so his former teammate could whisper something more to him.

Yuugao stood rooted but heard Kakashi respond: "I know."

"Yuugao." At her friend's call, she moved forward and placed a hand on her immobile shoulder. "Do not avenge me," Rin murmured. "And don't live in hatred, Yuugao."

"Rin!" The cry was pained and forced, as though an ill-meaning hand had wrenched it from her heart through her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear the sight of that contented, bleeding smile.

"We can _prove_ our worth. We must." The kind voice softened, fading. "_You _must, Yuugao. For us both."

Yuugao opened her eyes in time to see Rin's close, like a shade pulled to block the light. The medic-kunoichi exhaled, then collapsed forward into the younger girl's arms. Yuugao gasped at the unanticipated weight, Rin's warm blood soaking into her clothes. She half-turned, aiming traitorously moist eyes at Kakashi's too-calm ones. Her secret opponent stared black, black and red and shadow and flame, and both hurt Yuugao, hurt her so deeply.

A waterfall of blood rushed in her eyes, and she could not hear the Third's placidly-given instructions, but she saw, though he attempted to hide it, that Kakashi's pain was as intense as hers. He reached for Rin, and for a moment Yuugao's arms tightened on her friend. He only waited patiently, until her trembling muscles gave out, and he lifted the lifeless woman from Yuugao's desperate embrace. She stumbled backward and, unwilling to hold herself up, would have fallen if Hayate had not caught her.

She did not know when he had come and didn't take time to wonder about it. She simply watched while Kakashi steadied the lithe, beautiful body in his hold before starting for the village, Rin's hand hanging limply over his right shoulder, paler than his hair.

And the forest seemed to burst into color for Yuugao. Leaves were greener, bark more intricate, her own hair more brilliant a shade – it was as though devastation had enriched the world around the Uzuki girl at a terrible price.

Hayate carried her, murmuring quietly as he jumped through the tree branches, interrupted by his illness. "I was told ten minutes ago, I tried to – tried to reach you, but it was so – far." His coughing was worse, telling her he had used the Dance of the Crescent Moon, but she didn't care. One of Yuugao's hands tightened on his forearm. "If there's anything – anything you need me to do, Yuugao…"

She could only thing that it was with this person she had spent so much time – this person who was not Rin, who she had left Rin to train with, who had not just died, moments ago, with a smile. Rin had been in the back of her mind prior to the ANBU trials, and now she was gone, _gone _like her parents, her aunt, her trust, and her innocence.

She struggled in Hayate's arms until the combination of her persistence and his cough freed her, and she fell to a lower branch to run ahead of him. He called her name the way her heart had called for Rin, but she did not look back at him. It would be too hard.

If everything was to be lost, she mused in misery, it seemed the only question was: _when?

* * *

_Her availability for missions was put on hiatus, and it tore her apart. She wanted work, she wanted blood to spill and goals to achieve. Since she would have none of that, Yuugao did not step out of her house for five days. She received a missive from ANBU, but it was left unopened and ignored on her kitchen table.

Mostly, she trained, trained even more than she ever had for her test. Eating came only when she feared she would not be able to continue without it. Yuugao did not want to die, but she wanted to feel different, not human, not a ninja, and _definitely _not a woman. She threw blades and blunt objects without form, letting her hand or arms bleed when she neglected to handle a tool the correct way. The cuts would clot and leave her stinging all day, and Yuugao welcomed that discomfort. The little sleep she had was filled with nightmares of brown eyes and millions of holes through a body too young for such damage.

When the blood was so caked she could no longer move her fingers properly, she lay in a scalding bath until her skin wrinkled from the wet. For a moment she had the depressing wish that she was old, old and past all of her pain.

Yuugao was preparing for a fitful night's sleep when her front door rattled from someone's furious pounding. Laying down her brush, she made no hurry in answering despite the obvious urgency of the knocking.

When she opened the door, she was met by three tall men standing against the black night. Two of them she knew – there was no mistaken those dark-rimmed eyes, or that mask – and the other was vaguely familiar, a horizontal scar across his nose.

"Yuugao," Hayate greeted her with a weak smile. "Will you let us in?"

She did by passively walking away while leaving the door open, though the manners she was raised with had her going to the stove to boil water for tea.

"No one has seen you for days," commented Kakashi in a voice that was at once cheerful and solemn, as though his emotions, too, were confused. "Though you seem in good hygiene," he added, looking at her wet hair.

She did not respond, but her hands moved deftly about gathering a teapot and cups.

"You also made Jounin and ANBU," added the unnamed man.

At that, her hands stilled, and she slowly turned around. "I did?" It was the first thing she had spoken aloud since her self-confinement, and her voice came out hoarse and broken. Her deep eyes landed on Kakashi, the questioning not obvious, but there.

"It's true," the older shinobi verified. Without hesitation, he lifted the hem of his shirt and showed her a long strip of bandage bound to his left side. "You'll have left me quite a scar."

Her gaze swung to the sealed, ANBU-marked envelope, untouched and unseen since its arrival. There was no need to open it now, she realized, now that she knew.

"We both made it, Yuugao," Hayate said even as he lifted a hand to stifle his cough. "I feel the need to thank you." He made a quick bow, and she felt embarrassed, though of course it did not show. "We're both assigned to Kakashi-sempai's squad."

The briefly-parted gloom settled over her again. Lowering herself into a chair, Yuugao leaned forward on her elbows at the table, her pale hands covering her face. "It wasn't worth it," she told them all, guilt overpowering her as a result of the elation she had momentarily experienced. She did not sound grief-stricken, only weary, but all three men knew of her true feelings.

Kakashi's one visible eye softened, unseen by her. "Of course not, Yuugao. Nothing was worth Rin's death."

The room went fearfully still. No one had as yet said the name with the word. _Rin's death_, Yuugao considered, and thought she would have fallen apart like so much shattered glass in that very moment if the shinobi she did not know the name of had not spoken first.

"But Rin-san would have been quite pleased for you, Yuugao-san." When she looked up at him, he gave her a wide smile, his brunette ponytail bobbing as he nodded. "I'm sure of it."

"This is Umino Iruka." Hayate gestured to him belatedly while Iruka bowed. "He's a Chuunin."

Yuugao evaluated Iruka as thoroughly and neutral-mindedly as she did everything else; though he was her age, she could see that he was the type of shinobi to be contented with the average accomplishments for himself. She recalled seeing him in the Academy in their younger days, a bit of a crybaby but otherwise good-natured and earnest. He would stay a Chuunin, she was sure, and probably take to teach like the rest of the well-adjusted, satisfied ninja in Konoha.

He was her very opposite, perhaps, but she decided right away that he was someone worth knowing.

"Good evening, Iruka-kun." Iruka's smile grew all the wider with her quiet greeting.

"Yuugao." All eyes turned to Kakashi, who spoke with gentleness but also bluntness. "ANBU is an organization dominated by shinobi. In total, there are currently only eight kunoichi in a group consisted of about one ninety." Moving into the house from the doorway he had until now been loitering in, Kakashi approached her with an even gait. "You will be constantly doubted, repeatedly tested, and possibly harassed – all because you are a woman who believes herself as skillful as a man."

The one eye he used to look at her (and Yuugao inhaled slowly because she remembered his other) was piercing, seeking, asking.

"Will you be able to bear it?"

Yuugao met him steadily, gaze for gaze, until Kakashi inclined his head in silent acknowledgement of her unspoken resolve. For the benefit of the other two shinobi in her home, she leaned back in her chair, squared her shoulders, and looked Hayate in the face. She wanted him to see her certainty.

"Yes, Kakashi-sempai."

_To Be Continued_


	7. ANBU

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Seven: ANBU

By Nessie

"Does it sting?"

Yuugao could see better than she had anticipated through the small, round eyeholes in her ANBU mask. The most difficulty came in having to move within the confines of the armor built into the standard gray and black uniform. Looking at the taller form beside her, she thought it fitting that both of them had been given the faces of hounds in their porcelain masks, the designs slightly different. In answer to her friend's question, she gave a shake of her head.

"Mine does," Gekko confided, rotating his right shoulder as though that would alleviate the muscle ache from the newly-applied ANBU tattoo. He and Yuugao wore bandages over the scarring symbols.

They stood in the Forest of Death, where, Yuugao had learned the ANBU shinobi and kunoichi regularly trained. The thick canopy made the area dangerously dark, and the intermittent call of carrion birds and carnivorous beasts loaned the evening a high-risk feel. But it was getting to be too far past midnight, the time they had agreed to meet Kakashi here.

Presently, however, the familiar voice of the silver-haired nina came from behind them at the west gate. "She's lying, Hayate. These tattoos are infused with special chakra that will allow the ANBU mark to return even if that section of the skin is cut out." He managed to sound cheerful and professional at once as he added, "And they hurt like a bitch when they're formed."

If Yuugao had been used to her face being covered, she might have taken advantage of her mask and smirked. Instead, she focused on the fact that her shoulder did ache, quite brutally, and kept her face straight. "Where have you been?" she asked blandly. "We have been waiting for an hour."

"I hope you won't begrudge a young man his ponderings of the universe on a perfect night."

Unimpressed, she folded her arms, letting the tip of one cleverly-stashed kunai to gleam from the opening in her arm guard, reminding Kakashi of what she could do and why she was here.

"Right then." Stepping forward between his two trainees, his new team, Kakashi kept his one visible eye on the shadowy forest around them as he spoke. "By the time the symbol on your shoulders scar over, I will have trained you to be indispensable ninja."

That was more like it. Yuugao could feel the same sense of thrill she knew Hayate was experiencing, albeit hers did not cause her to break out in a coughing fit. To her surprise, it was Kakashi who engaged her first, running into the deepest shadows for her and Hayate to take up the chase. Their training began.

* * *

Kakashi decided the next day that an A-rank mission would do well as their first team outing. Yuugao was feeling ready for an S-rank, but she knew better than to push Kakashi. Friend though he was, he was also her captain. He went on to explain that because ANBU operations were usually long and constant when in progress, ninja in the organization did not have the luxury of separating practice from field work.

"What does the Third have for us?" queried Hayate when the three were entering the building of the Hokage, fully decked in uniform.

The Hatake emitted a short laugh in response to the question. "ANBU is far too complicated for the Third to keep track of its activities in response to the main reserves. It's not him we're visiting. Watch me, and learn this."

They reached the staircase that led to the Hokage's office, but instead of walking up, Yuugao and Hayate were halted by their sempai. Yuugao took in every movement Kakashi made with the eager alertness of a newborn cub. Her former adulation of him had lessened and was now replaced by an honest, voluntary respect. Her third for knowledge and growth could only seemingly be quenched by the older shinobi. And it gladdened her to know that Hayate was at her side – she knew she was dangerously attached to him, but this could not be helped as she couldn't afford to let an exhausting emotional struggle distract her from training.

Kakashi looked around to ascertain that no unmasked persons were in view of them. Once that was confirmed, he made a quick hand sign, and a rectangle of space hidden by a long tatami mat began to lower.

Instinctively, Yuugao caught at Hayate's arm; she did not fear heights, but she rarely trusted machinery, and the low grinding in her ears gave away that they were indeed upon a piece of such. Her friend steadied her, and for a second she could see his dark-ringed eyed through the holes in his mask. She hurriedly pulled away as the concealed elevator continued its descent, though she thought she might have heard Kakashi's chuckle over the whirring.

When the platform at last touched the floor with a shudder, Yuugao was too happy to step off. She could feel a chill that indicated they were underground. Around them, dozens of men and women in ANBU dress walked both solo and in groups.

"Where…" Yuugao began, but she let the question hang freely.

"ANBU headquarters, of course," answered Kakashi, who did not need clarification. "You didn't think we had our own building with a big sign in front, did you?"

Yuugao, like everyone else who wasn't a part of it, had never known where ANBU's base of operations was. She appreciated the location – where better to station Konoha's best than within seconds of the Hokage?

Kakashi led them forward and through several corridors, explaining that while the Third did decide which missions Konoha accepted, the ones meant for ANBU were most often sent to a committee below, which then distributed assignments according to the specifications of its agents.

"Ah," Kakashi said when a leanly-built shinobi emerged from a room he was leading Hayate and Yuugao into. "Are you taking an A-rank assignment by yourself, Itachi-san?"

He appeared no older than thirteen, fourteen at the very most. Yuugao could catch only glimpses of coal-black in the mask of the man named Itachi, but for one moment she thought the eyes turned crimson. Without knowing why, she averted her gaze.

"No," replied a cool, even voice from behind the porcelain. "I am taking the weekend off…to spend time with my family."

"Ah. Please give them my respects – Captain Uchiha."

There was a short pause, in which the young shinobi registered Yuugao and Hayate's unseen surprise at his ranking. "Of course," he murmured at last, "Kakashi-san." There was no real hesitance in Itachi's tone, only calculation, and neither did he hurry to depart. When Yuugao straightened from the proper bow to a senior officer, she thought right away that the Uchiha boy who was an ANBU captain was someone she could not like.

"He is a prodigy, and as strong as me," murmured Kakashi lowly, staring at Uchiha Itachi with a somewhat dazed lethargy. Then, "I suppose we should go!" he suggested as if he had said nothing and the oddly tense encounter had not occurred.

Leading them into the room from which Itachi had come, Yuugao saw a man who was not masked and sat behind a wide desk. He was muscled into physically large proportions; his eyes were keen, so even though he looked like a brute, Yuugao took him to be highly intelligent. A mouth that could be both cruel and kind as needed curved at their entrance. "Welcome, Kakashi," he rumbled. "You're late – as usual."

From behind the safe barrier of her mask, Yuugao shot Kakashi a glare. He had sworn to her that they would be on time!

But seeing as you have new agents with you, I supposed a degree of leniency is permissible – _again._" The gruff tone emphasized the afterthought in quite a threatening manner, but Kakashi's exterior remained calm.

"Thank you, sir. Allow me to introduce my team – masks off, you two." Kakashi removed his own mask (revealing only his usual cloth mask). "This is Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yuugao."

As her mask was lowered and her violet bangs spilled out, Yuugao saw the superior's gaze land on her. "You're the girl who combined the trick with the Jounin test. In fact, I heard you fought—"

"Me," reported Kakashi. His voice was bright, but she wondered if vestiges of surprise lay beneath it.

The older shinobi looked at his junior in the astonishment that Kakashi did not show. "Did you go easy on her?"

Kakashi's tone deepened with seriousness. "You know the answer to that." Hurriedly, he continued, "Yuugao, Hayate – this is Morino Ichiki, the director of the ANBU Reconnaissance and Interrogation Division."

"Considering your strengths," Morino began, forgoing introductory pleasantries, "the mission you are receiving should be perfectly matched."

Kakashi lifted the file extended to them from Morino's desk, flipping it open to scan the contents with his visible eyebrow raised. "Sunagakure?"

Yuugao stiffened. Never having had a real team that exerted itself, she had only been dispatched northward, and then only as far as the Land of Waves. The idea of traveling through the Land of Wind to the Sand village seemed refreshingly opportune.

"It's nothing too serious," Morino said. "The Third, at the urging of his counselors, has simply agreed to a check-up on Sunagakure preceding next month's Chuunin Exams. I don't think you'll find anything unusual. If they pass your inspection, it's likely we'll leave them alone for several years."

"It sounds simple at any rate," commented Hayate. He did not sound pleased by the notion. Like Yuugao, he enjoyed a challenge.

"Very," Morino concurred, disappointing them. "I estimate you'll only be gone for a week or so, including travel time. This is only a glance at the country's current doings. Actually, this was to be a solo mission for Uchiha Itachi before he requested the time off. The distance should provide you time to work on operating as a team."

"Agreed. We'll be going now to prepare, Morino-sama." Kakashi lead his subordinates in a bow before ushering them out.

"_This _is an A-rank mission?" she intoned to her captain when they were on the lift going up and she needed distraction.

"Relax. Don't be so impatient," Kakashi told her, though nothing, least of all impatience, had been inflected in her voice. "There is more to scoping out an ninja village than you suspect."

"An _allied _ninja village?" Hayate inquired with a sulkiness befitting a seventeen-year-old boy, regardless of health.

Kakashi laughed. "Allegedly allied. Politics can be very fickle in times of peace."

"You don't think the Sand—"

"No," Kakashi interposed, turning to her once they stood out on the street. "Not yet, anyway. Now go home, pack, and sleep. We will leave at dawn tomorrow. I imagine you'll find the route to Sunagakure rather scenic." With that partly-cryptic instruction, Kakashi left in a puff.

Hayate walked toward a nearby tree, and Yuugao followed. "What is it?"

When they stood on the side of the tree that would hide them from the villagers in the street, he lifted the edge of his mask and coughed harshly into his fist. "It's hard getting used to this thing," he told her.

Her shoulders visibly slackened. Only Hayate could inspire her to relax, by doing absolutely nothing. "Are you feeling well?"

"Better than usual. I get excited just thinking about the missions we'll have together." Before she detected the movement, he had grabbed both one of her hands and her mask, pulling it over her head. "Shame, though, Yuugao – we have to hide your lovely face."

"Stop it." Since she had emerged from her depression, Hayate had grown quite positive in his moods. Yuugao wasn't sure, because she had liked the focused young man she had first met, but it was possible she was growing to like this bright-sided shinobi even more. As she pulled the porcelain back down, she felt unfamiliar warmth rush into her cheeks. "We should do what Kakashi-sempai said, Hayate. If ANBU missions are so constant, we probably won't have much of a chance for sleep while we're gone."

Relenting, Hayate dropped her hand. She brought it to her chest, held it there as though he'd burned it. In reality, she only felt a slight tingling beneath her glove. "Fine. I'll see you in the morning. Don't pack so many weapons you can't move."

"Of course not," she replied solemnly. "I've taken to carrying them in summoning scrolls."

Hayate gave an airy chuckle that, for once, did not cause him to erupt in hacking. "You're always so serious, Yuugao." And he too left her to get ready for their first mission as ANBU.

It was not until she arrived home that Yuugao realized Hayate had made her normally straight mouth tilt up.

_To Be Continued_


	8. Sand and Blood

**Author's Notes: **It's been a while since I've updated, mostly due to writing other fics as well as real-life obligations. I still enjoy this story, though, make no mistake. I hope you are too!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Eight: Sand and Blood

By Nessie

The Land of Wind, Yuugao determined, undoubtedly lived up to its name. Her long violet hair was tossed about at random, over her shoulders, straight out from her back, tangling behind her neck. Worse than that, the sand of the endless deserts was swirled through the air by the unceasing gales. Kakashi had them break camp on the night of their arrival at the border of the country. He wanted both she and Hayate to grow accustomed to turning their back to the wind so that grit did not fly through the eye-holes in their masks; every time it did, the masks had to be removed so they could clear their respective gazes, and such actions could not be undertaken once in view of the Hidden Village of Sand.

The night was bitterly cold in direct contrast to the burning daytime, but Yuugao had packed accordingly and wore thick, padded outerwear that stayed insulated and offered all the more places for her to hide weapons. The cold bothered Hayate, however, and he was forced to stay in the tent through the night to control his coughing as much as possible.

Energized by the prospect of being on her first mission in Wind, Yuugao volunteered to take final watch during the camp. Kakashi shot her down at once, insisting that until she became accustomed to the unstable terrain (she had so far shown difficulty in walking well on the sand), he would take the daybreak hours when an ambush was most likely to be implemented. She responded with her usual outward detachment, but the masked ANBU captain knew her better than he had before and detected her disappointment immediately.

"Don't be discouraged, Yuugao," he said plainly. "It is not a lack of confidence I have in _you_. I'm still a new leader."

Kakashi's weaknesses were not the same as other ninjas' and, knowing this, Yuugao felt no fear working under him. She went inside the tent to rest beside Hayate, whose coughing kept her awake – not from aggravation but from the concern she had not managed to squash in its entirety.

After a light breakfast of tea and spiced rice at dawn, they approached the Sand village. Infiltration was not a strong point of either Yuugao or Hayate, but both of them were ninjas and could achieve stealth when the moment called for it. Kakashi passed on a trick of his own; in this heat, the air waved and shivered like a silk curtain in a breeze. A little genjutsu, he explained, would be all that was needed to trick the Sand shinobi on guard detail into thinking they were nothing more than the shimmering images of fellow village members in the distance.

Adjusting his dog-faced mask into perfect alignment with his eyes, Kakashi led them close to the front gate, instructing them in undertones to leap to the rooftops once they were inside the village walls. The fortress-like construction that sheltered the city inside was tenable indeed, but not impenetrable. During wartime, it would be just below impossible to break in, but as they were conducting a simple observation mission, entering on a consistent level of subtlety was key.

Standing in the shadow of an awning, Kakashi waited until both guards were facing in their direction before swiftly executing a series of hand seals, his Sharingan eye wide. Both were set under the genjutsu successfully, and in a matter of seconds, Yuugao was hastening through the gate and up a sun-hardened clay wall between Kakashi and Hayate.

"Good," Kakashi said once they were settled. His mask was readjusted once again, and Yuugao estimated it was to keep sunlight from directly hitting his left eye.

Hayate turned to her, but of course, she could not see his face. His ANBU tattoo looked somehow redder in the harsh light of Wind, the mark glistening as he perspired. "What now?"

"Remember," Kakashi stated, "we are not to engage anyone or to make contact. To ensure this, I want you both to find a civilian on the street. It is Sunagakure's market day. Once you see a shopper return indoors, mimic their form and follow me." He hurried to the center of the village, Hayate and Yuugao on his tail. All three crouched on a slanting roof to look for potential targets among the dozens milling about the many stands and booths erected in the central street.

Kakashi transformed into a smiling young man, Yuugao appeared as a woman wearing a dark, unremarkable cloak, and Hayate took the form of a man who, with all his scars, looked perhaps to be a retired shinobi. With the copy-nin at the fore, they proceeded through the busy street.

"We'll go to the sand pits where their Genin train," he told them lowly. "We won't be watching the students so much as their teachers. In the past, duplicity was often instigated by the teachers of students visiting Konoha for the Chuunin Exams, under orders from their Kage to trick their hosts."

Yuugao was pleased to be learning so much but simultaneously felt let down at such a detached mission. She was good at reconnaissance and knew her skill would serve. As a weapons specialist, she was quite literally a hands-on type kunoichi, but this mission dictated strict observation – simply a "look, but don't touch" command that she would not be able to break even if she was attacked. If a battle did occur, she would have to lure her opponent outside of the village or risk harmful relations between Suna and Konoha. Though she knew little of politics, she was certain she did not want to be the cause of any such thing.

The training grounds at the south side of the village made Yuugao thankful for the facilities offered at home. The targets provided were not enduring posts of wood or trees but nets made from desert bramble secured to high sand dunes, leaving beside them steep hills on which the young Genin currently training there found poor balance.

After a time, a tall Jounin watching a three-man cell of twelve-year-olds trying and failing to execute jutsus on the unpacked ground took pity on the frustrated children and offered to demonstrate a proper jutsu. He had a disfigured upper lip, the flesh curling toward his nose and revealing the teeth on the right side of his mouth beneath glistening gums.

He affected a wide stance but kept his arms at his side. Then, in one fluid movement Yuugao would not have anticipated had she been facing him, he pulled what seemed to be a long, black razor-edged pole from his baggy pants leg. With one hand he spun the pole until a furious but controlled wind gained and surrounded the Jounin, bringing sand up with it until a nearly impenetrable shield was created from the rotating force of his chakra.

Yuugao was impressed.

The Jounin's chakra died down, and the young shinobi watching gaped at him in wonder. She realized, then, that the training equipment offered in Suna was not inferior at all but was, in fact, more practical. It relied on the natural terrain, demanding its inhabitants learn to use it to their advantage. Anyone could do combat on even, immobile ground. It took a different level to fight anywhere else.

"You will understand our allies as well as our enemies," Kakashi told them, raising a friendly wave to the Jounin when he looked in their direction. Disguised though they were, he knew enough about line in Suna to assert himself as a belonging civilian. "That is a strength as well."

"They live very differently from us," Hayate noted, stifling a cough by holding his breath for a moment. Yuugao lifted a hand to his back to massage away the irritation, and by the onlookers it was perceived as a respectful daughter seeing to the comfort of her grandfather.

The young man Kakashi had physically imitated smiled. "That, you know, is the reason our two countries were once at war. I, personally...well, let's say if it was publicly known that I was present in this village, our chances of a good report would strikingly low."

Yuugao did not inquire, though curiosity niggled at her nonetheless. The White Fang, she thought, would have offended more nations than just the Land of Wind during that tumultuous time. Was it that Hakate Kakashi was bothered by the notion, even now that those days were done?

They continued on, checking off the Jounin teachers of Genin as a passing unit not to be concerned about. Kakashi led them back to the residential area of Sunagakure, and it was not two minutes later that they heard mention of their village there.

"Did you hear about Konoha?" A boisterous middle-aged man came right up to Hayate, one hand landing on his falsely feeble shoulder.

In his inexperience, Hayate looked stunned for a second, but this worked out well. Stepping forward, it was Kakashi who asked him about the news.

"Apparently," the man went on, his rugged cheeks pink with excitement, "one of the higher clans there was brutally massacred just last night! A whole district wiped out."

There was a silence that passed between the three spying ninja and the Suna gossiper who had approached them.

Yuugao stilled her emotions, as she was adept at doing, and queried softly, "Who was the clan?"

"Let's see…I don't remember the name well. They don't have names like that around here since there's no familial connections between us and those old Fire clans. I dunno... Uki-something. Ukiwa, Ukina—"

"Uchiha?" murmured Kakashi, the face he had stolen now clean of any trace of mirth.

"That's the one! Yeah, I guess one of the sons in the family went berserk, killed them quick. They could hardly put up a fight, I heard."

"And survivors?" Kakashi folded his arms, manner suggesting a rather morbid sort of curiosity, indifference sub level.

"I don't think…." The man's doubtful expression inspired hopelessness for a moment before he perked up. "Oh yeah, there was someone! One kid. The murdering psycho's brother, I think. How's _that_ for messed up?"

"His brother?"

"Yeah, Sokure, I think he was called. It's nuts too, because the guy was even a captain of the Konoha ANBU. Pretty talented, so I hear. He must be, to take down that entire clan of his!"

The gossiper meandered off, supposedly to spread the story. Yuugao started; Hayate took a step but Kakashi caught them both lightly by their arm guards. "We aren't free to return yet."

Hayate's eyes narrowed. "The Uchiha clan—"

"I know." Through the hole in his mask, Yuugao saw his Sharingan grow bright. "But there is still the mission to complete. At the moment, I wouldn't be able to submit half a report to Ibiki. We'll stay one more hour and then leave at dusk. By then we can go undetected."

Yuugao felt the most horrible tension lining her stomach, through each bone in her ribcage. Massacre, brother, psycho – these words worked her up. Mostly because (and she was sure Kakashi had realized this already) the only reason they had been assigned to this mission in the first place was because Captain Uchiha Itachi, whom she had met only two days before, had declined from the assignment in favor of spending the weekend with his family – as he had told them in person!

"Come on, Yuugao," she heard Hayate whisper. She followed, her eyes narrowing.

The rest of the inspection was automatic, almost robotic. They kept under the public notice. They did not give any reason for suspicion. Once Kakashi was convinced there was nothing brewing in Sunagakure that would result in problems for Konoha, especially important now that the village already had problems, they left the village and raced across the desert. The three did not rest until they met the tree line that was the border of the Land of Fire, and again, briefly, when they were in messaging distance of Konoha. After that, they continued until they were through the village gate, and the hydraulic lift was taking them below the Hokage's building into the ANBU headquarters.

Pandemonium dominated the labyrinth of corridors. There were ANBU shinobi and kunoichi everywhere, many of them not even dressed in uniform. Scrolls were flying through the air as documents were searched, and even members of the village medical squad were going about easing the more agitated ninja with their calming jutsus.

Kakashi had to catch at the collar of a man's Jounin vest to receive any attention. His black, bowl-haired head flew around to stare at him. "Kakashi!" he exclaimed, too loudly even in the din of the headquarters. The bright green clothes he wore made him distinguishable from everyone there. "You are already—"

"Back," Kakashi nodded in his mask. "What's going on, Gai? What's happening with the Uchihas?"

The man called Gai went stone still, his face devoid of expression except possibly regret. "Nothing is happening with them, Kakashi. All of them are dead. All of them except for Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi-san's..." He waited a moment, then straightened his shoulders. "Itachi's younger brother."

"Where is Sasuke now?"

"He is being questioned by one of the psychologists. It's completely out of control down here, everyone's trying to figure out how this slipped through our notice. Oh, and you can't report to Ibiki!"

"Why not?"

"He was promoted! Just this morning, to the head of the interrogation division! He's grilling anyone who was ever connected to Itachi, so prepare to be questioned if you've ever exchanged so much as a 'good morning' with him." Gai's large eyes moved to Yuugao and Hayate. "Your team?"

"Yes. Now listen, I'll need you to find…."

As Kakashi joined the fray of ANBU attempting to make sense of the unforeseen ordeal, Yuugao felt utterly misplaced. Turning to Hayate, they exchanged a silent agreement, to leave and get out of the way. It was a little demeaning, but they both understood the necessity of their absence.

Outside, Yuugao drank in the cool night air now that she was able to get her breath back from nearly two days of straight running.

"How could it have happened?" Hayate asked her, the quiet of the streets at night eerie after being down in the chaotic ANBU headquarters. "The Uchiha clan..."

Yuugao understood his feeling and shared it. The Uchiha clan, Konoha's special police unit, had been dispatched so systematically that the event seemed almost logical. But it wasn't at all logical; they had been considered the top combating family in Konoha, the village's police! And one man – one crazy, absolutely madness-possessed man (not even a man, she corrected herself hastily) had destroyed them entirely.

Hayate took her hand, and she barely realized it when she squeezed his in return.

It made her wonder if anything was avoidable. Or if everything, her failure or success included, was predetermined and inevitable.

It was not the first time she had felt this way.

_To Be Continued_


	9. Trust

**Author's Notes: **I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything for this fic. This one's not as easy-coming as others as of now, and I've been working on other stories plus some real-life events, etc. I hope to get back into action with Yuugao's tale, however.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

Chapter Nine:

By Nessie

A year and a half after the slaughtering of the Uchiha clan, the office had long since settled down, the investigation having named Itachi as the sole offender of the incident. There was still tension within the organization and the Hokage's personal staff. The lack of foresight had caused a rift between fellows that almost couldn't be breached even after so much time. Many blamed themselves for the loss of so admired a family, including Morino Ibiki who had worked the most with Itachi, a single player, even though they had not been close on any level beside mission assignments and subsequent reports.

Ibiki's promotion had resulted in the vast, swift improvement of ANBU on the whole, and by now Yuugao and Hayate knew what their involvement in the Black Ops truly meant. After a week long mission with Kakashi at the border between Fire and Grass, during a skirmish that broke out between some traveling missing-nin originally from the Land of the Waterfall, the two had some downtime before their next assignment.

They chose a cool, rainy day to do some training on the sloped training grounds to see how they fared in the adverse conditions of slippery, uneven ground. They had done battle in just this way at the border, and while there had been no casualties, Yuugao had come very close to suffocation by a wind-type kunoichi whose weapon of preference was a ribbon of silk reinforced by a chain lining. Her weak footing in the rain who restricted her ability to dodge and angle herself for a proper defense. Only the interference of one of Kakashi's ninja dogs had prevented her untimely victimization (a word she found distasteful but used nonetheless).

Likewise, Hayate had faced a shinobi who used no weapon but had a jutsu that restrained the movements of his upper torso much like the shadow binding technique of the Nara clan, although this jutsu had utilized the malleable earth instead. Hayate's sword had been rendered useless in his immobilized arm, but the opposing shinobi's clumsiness had him slipping in the dirt and canceling the jutsu from impact with the ground. Hayate had pinned him for Kakashi to force him into obedience with genjutsu.

As a team, the three of them worked better together now. Hayate and Yuugao were able to more easily predict Kakashi's strategies, and Kakashi understood their weaknesses and strengths enough to pair them with the opponents whose skills would be most advantageous to them in seeking victory. It was only a matter of time before they would be able to strike out on their own for solo missions or assignments with ninja chosen for them by the higher-ups.

Still, Kakashi's two teammates agreed that training was still quite necessary. Thus, they could be found that day dueling, Hayate with his sword, Yuugao with a primitive bow and arrow. Hayate sported a wound from his battle, mostly healed thanks to the ministrations of the Konoha medical team, but Yuugao was mindful to execute attacks that wouldn't cause strain on his injured left arm.

They raced up and slid down the long length of hill, Yuugao loosing dull-tipped arrows which Hayate deflected with his sword before making deft attempts at touching her with the reverse side of the blade. The two of them had grown so skilled at fighting each other's types of talent that training between them was quickly growing obsolete; hence Yuugao's reversion to simpler weapons, a bid to catch Hayate off-guard. The chance failed, however, as her friend was as good as ever at sparring with her.

Of course, there had to be a winner. Their scores were often equal, one of them taking the lead in matches by only one or sessions before the other would come back with just as many wins. Today, by the way Yuugao struggled somewhat with balancing herself on the rain-slick grass and the muscle use required to draw the bow, Hayate would come out on top. Her speed of nocking the arrows and the resulting target hit was no less accurate but fell just short of perfect. That was all Hayate needed. When a particularly vicious curtain of silver rain swept between them in the gray afternoon light, Yuugao's eyesight was hindered just enough for her to take an extra moment to acquire her target. In that moment, Hayate went up on his heels and slid down the hill to where she was positioned at the bottom, resting the flat of his sword on her right shoulder, tense from her pull on the bow. The water level was high enough at the foot of the slope, however, that the slight pressure he exerted on his sparring was enough to send him off balance, and they both went tumbling down, arrows scattering. Hayate's sword gauged out some moist dirt and sent it flying over the grass from where he'd let go of it as not to risk scratching her.

On the ground, the two were a tangle of limbs, one of Yuugao legs thrown over both of his (she had foolishly tried to remain upright by grabbing him) while Hayate's right arm was caught beneath her left and his left pinned her right.

It was awkward, embarrassing for him, even a little frightening for her. The position reminded her far too much of one she had been in years ago, before knowing Hayate, before her hair was long, before she had ever been on a real mission. Those variables were a few of the reasons she did not panic and demand he get off of her instantly. Another was that Hayate was out of breath and wheezing. The most important one was that, despite the sudden emergence of the unwelcome memory, Yuugao did not feel unsafe at this proximity with Hayate. In fact, after the initial wave of remembrance faded, she felt_ warmed_ by him, protected.

Hayate stared down at her, how her deep purple hair, almost black in the rain, was fanned out over the grass and his wrist, how her eyes widened for only a moment before relaxing once more. When he shifted slightly, his lips parting to no doubt utter a hasty apology for knocking her down, Yuugao lifted her head and caught his mouth with hers. Both of them froze for a moment. Her eyes were closed, but Yuugao felt the tension in his chest against her own, the signal of his agitation and prepared to pull away if he needed to cough, but startlingly the tension dissipated, and it didn't take Hayate long at all to respond. She lowered her head back to the grass, Hayate's lips slanted over hers, and she inhaled sharply through her nose when his hand clutched in her hair.

They broke apart, and the stare resumed. Shortly, Hayate began to smile. "Well," he stated softly, "that took long enough."

If she was a blushing sort of woman, she would have turned as red as the markings on their ANBU masks (conveniently left at home today). Instead, she merely sighed and sat up. She would be twenty years old in only a handful of months, and she had only just shared her first real kiss. Both their bodies were now slick with mud, grass sticking to them. They remained sitting, side by side, on the grass for two, silent minutes before Yuugao intoned, "I want you to know about something."

The way she worded the desire made him nod in understanding. "But you don't want to tell me yourself?" said Hayate.

Yuugao hardly noticed it when she joined their hands and ran a thumb over the back of his. "I'm going to go home and clean up. Go to the office of medical records and ask for my file." Reaching behind her, she pulled a kunai from her belt, the handle bearing her the characters for _Uzuki_. "As my teammate, you shouldn't have any problems, but if you do, show this to them so that they'll give it to you. Read the statement of my psychological assessment from seven years ago."

Her friend watched her unflinchingly, swallowing a cough so as not to ruin the solemnity of the moment. "What will I find there?"

Yuugao looked away from him, uncertainty flaring in her mind even as she handed him the kunai. "My secret."

---

The rapping on her door at ten o' clock that evening did not entirely surprise her, although Yuugao had been eighty-three percent sure she would not hear from Hayate until the next day. When she opened the door to him, she noted his laborious breathing (had he run all the way from the hospital office?), the way his breath caught on each exhale. The circles under his eyes appeared more defined, although it could have only been the scant lighting in her entryway; it had been long enough since the shinobi had used Dance of the Crescent Moon that his health was better than usual.

"Hayate," she murmured, eyebrows drawn together in a discreet blend of concern and nervous anticipation, "are you—"

Hayate entered too swiftly for her to complete the question. With one hand, he took her by the shoulder while the other slammed the door shut behind him before bringing it to her back to pull her close to him. She stood rooted for several moments, unsure of what she should do, while he buried his face in her shoulder. Her cheek was pressed to his chest, her face turned toward his. The end of her nose lightly brushed his neck, and she was overpowered by the clean scent of him. She deduced that he'd showered before going to look at her file.

After a while of tensely standing there, Yuugao lifted her hands to settle them beneath his shoulder blades. At last, he managed to say, "I read the whole thing. I couldn't help myself, Yuugao. That you...that something like that happened to you..."

She wished he would stop talking. She dealt poorly with pity and grief, and he knew that. Unwittingly, her grip tightened against him. "I'm fine," she assured him. "I have...risen above that." Yuugao wanted to say that what Hiroshi had done to her was nothing compared to Rin's death years later, but she couldn't manage the words.

"I know," murmured Hayate, his voice muffled by the skin of her neck. He seemed not to notice that she wore a plain sleeping yukata, having dressed for bed minutes before his arrival. "I _know_." He seemed enthralled by the word, as though knowing so much about her was something Hayate had never expected.

The nearness to him, as before, started a warmth inside her. This time, though, the warmth strengthened to a pyre. He must have sensed something, because her friend readjusted his position and crushed his lips to hers, overcome by too much feeling.

She wanted closeness. She wanted it so much that it intimidated her, mostly because she never had longed for it before. Yuugao felt moved by someone else, unused to giving in to personal desire. Her plan had always been to live the life of the ultimate ninja, devoid of emotion because emotion was a woman's possession. But she was starting to realize by the force of Hayate's response to her history that emotion was actually a _human's _emotion, and she was not fool enough to think that she could ever stop being human.

She reached for the cap in which he wore his forehead protector and pulled it from his head. Thick hair fell around her fingers; Yuugao sometimes forgot what he looked like without it on. He gave a surprised jerk when she gripped the front of his shirt between the open Jounin vest he had recently taken to wearing when not in ANBU uniform, but he didn't stop kissing her. It was only when he was bare-chested and noticed her reaching for the tie of her yukata that he opened his eyes and lightly touched her wrist.

"Yuugao," he said, making absolutely sure that she was meeting him gaze for gaze and hearing him, "do you trust me this much?"

He clearly thought she was still scarred, Yuugao thought, and maybe she was. But she had already endured so much and had accomplished many of her goals. It was time to reward herself a little while overcoming a challenge of a different kind.

Pressing a hand to his cheek, relishing the way he watched her – so genuinely caring – Yuugao whispered back. "I trust you the most."

The pause lingered, but then Hayate moved toward her again, the heat of his abruptly fevered body meeting with hers. The yukata fell to the floor, and they soon left it behind.

---

The following morning, waking in a thoroughly rumpled bed, Yuugao realized that she had learned something important: Hayate's cough fully disappeared when they made love.

She couldn't say for sure if the surge of endorphins soothed his condition or if he was simply too preoccupied to be physically agitated, but the fact was a high plus in her book and his. He turned toward her, not surprised to find her already awake. She studied the wild state of his hair, remembering how she had caused that.

Forgoing a good-morning, Yuugao said, "We're supposed to meet Kakashi-senpai in half an hour."

Hayate took a deep breath, absently tracing his fingertip over the pattern of her ANBU tattoo. The reminder did not appear to significantly bother him. "He's always late. We might as well be, too."

Her lips quirked at that, and she did not even tighten her jaw when he moved to hover over her, but a small sound did work its way from her throat way he promptly flipped them so that she was balanced on top of him. Seeing him that way, so close to her, made Yuugao feel as young as she was for the first time since making friends with Rin. And now, also for the first time since she had witnessed Rin's death, she felt truly comforted.

It helped that she was sure what Rin's reaction would have been to this sudden change in relationship status: a full blown, head-thrown-back cackle of laughter over a triumphant _I knew it!_

"Are you all right?" asked Hayate.

She replied by leaning forward and kissing him slowly. His dark eyes were hazy when she next opened her eyes to see them.

"I suppose that means yes," he noted appreciatively.

_To Be Continued_


	10. Abated Concerns

**Author's Notes: **Here you go! Now that I have other ongoing projects out of the way, ToBToF is the only multi-chaptered fic currently taking my attention. And I'm in love with the enigma of Yuugao all over again.

**Notes: **I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

By Nessie

Chapter Ten: Abated Concerns

On the first and fifteenth days of each months, Yuugao visited the place where Rin was buried. It was a personal limitation she had placed upon herself; as a kunoichi, she could not allow any emotion, not even grief, to attain total dominance over her mentality. Paying respects more often than this would have led to other thoughts mired in vengeance, and that was precisely the thing Rin had requested Yuugao not pursue.

On this particular fifteenth, in October, Yuugao made obeisance to the headstone bearing her friend's name. Rin had been luckier than countless ninja whose bodies had not been left after a battle to be properly buried. A private grave was a rarity in Konoha. Yuugao was thankful that she could visit without others mingling to do the same.

A distance behind her, Hayate waited. He had not known Rin long, but he did not mind accompanying his teammate and lover. They would be leaving for a battle soon, anyway. It seemed inappropriate, somehow, but both wore ANBU uniforms. For Yuugao to slip into her feline persona was a simple matter of lowering her mask into place. Once she rose from her kneel, the porcelain descended. It was only after she joined Hayate that Kakashi appeared.

"You're late," she uttered lowly. But even as she spoke, Yuugao knew his timing had been too perfect, late but _just _barely. Kakashi had certainly been watching them from someplace unseen.

"Today," Kakashi retorted gently, "it makes no difference to you."

Hayate coughed and asked, "What are you talking about, senpai?"

Kakashi, who wore basic shinobi gear unmarked by ANBU, smiled at them – if the crease in his mask was any indication. "As of today, I am no longer a member of your team."

It shouldn't have been unexpected, but Hayate and Yuugao claimed a certain degree of surprise. They both had known, had even discussed, that Kakashi's presence on their cell was approaching its end. He had stopped training with them months ago.

Yuugao was still curious about her senpai's situation. "Which team will you be moving into?"

"None." The two did not so much as shift in request of explanation but nonetheless he said, "I have been asked by Iruka to take on a Genin team as my students. I think the process could be...enlightening."

She caught his choice of wording, as well as his tone. It was one thing for Kakashi to train ANBU-level ninja, but to make him responsible for the training of inexperienced (and impressionable) Genin? It was something she would have to see for herself to believe.

"Anyway, I won't be needed on this mission of yours. From these last months I can tell that you, Hayate and Yuugao, truly understand each other."

Kakashi's words carried too much implication to be lost on his ex-teammates. Hayate went slightly pink in the ears. Yuugao's embarrassment manifested in an arching of eyebrows, which Kakashi could not see while she wore her mask.

"You are to go to the southern border of Fire, where you will find a group of five Chuunin missing-nin originally from Earth. They're in the bingo book." His tone leveled. "You know what to do."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sempai," Hayate returned. Turning, he leapt into a tree and started off, knowing Yuugao would soon catch up.

"It should only be an overnight trip," Kakashi added to the remaining kunoichi. Correctly interpreting her responding wordlessness, he asked, "Are you upset with me, Yuugao?"

She shook her head, her expression perfectly blank even behind the face of the cat. "No, sempai. Not upset."

"But unsettled?"

Yuugao studied him momentarily, and her impression of never truly understanding him was renewed. "It's just that I think there is still more I can learn from you."

"Perhaps," he acknowledged. Kakashi's silver hair gleamed as he turned to look back at Rin's headstone. "But you'll probably have a lot more missions with Tenzou now, and his abilities differ greatly from mine. Besides, there are younger ones who may need my lessons more than you."

This was true. Devoted parents were more accepting of their children's desires to be taught combat skills than they had been in recent years, yet there was still a lesser number of new students in the Academy than was desirable. And Yuugao was certain that Rin would approve of her old teammate's decision to become a teacher.

He folded his arms. "It's just..."

"What?" Yuugao queried.

Kakashi shrugged, than faced her again. "I've grown accustomed to our good teamwork. A Genin cell will have to prove to me that they're capable of that before they'll have me as their sensei."

She came close to smiling; Kakashi would make that demand above all else. "I'll be leaving now," she said, knowing this discussion had lasted long enough for the both of them.

Her friend nodded only once. In perfect synchronicity, they about-faced and took off. Yuugao joined Hayate halfway to the gate.

"Do you think things will change without him?" Hayate wanted to know.

As they exited the village, Yuugao expressed her disbelief with a short silence. "I think, if anything, things will improve."

"How so?"

She allowed herself the slightest smile concealed behind the cat's face. "We won't have to put up with his incessant reading."

---

Yuugao was certain that Kakashi was perfectly aware of her status with Hayate. In fact, her suspicion that he had anticipated the shift in proprieties was a small strain on her mind. She supposed it no longer mattered. The closeness achieved with Hayate, the smile reserved for her in his dark-ringed eyes, had not as yet been a detriment to their work in ANBU.

When they surprised the resting missing-nin just after dusk, and the time it took for dispatching them was considerably less than expected, Yuugao wondered if their relationship might have actually strengthened their combined technique.

"We could make it back to the village by midnight," Yuugao said as she cleaned blood from her katana with a folded cloth. "Kakashi-senpai thought it might take the whole night."

"But it will." She looked up to see Hayate erecting the miniature tent used on missions. He sent her a slow grin. "There's blood in our clothes."

"So?" It was not as though this was new for either of them.

"They'll need to be soaked. For hours."

Her lips parted in realization, but then Yuugao flipped her blade and slid it neatly into its hilt with a soft click. Turning her head so that her violet hair fell completely behind her shoulders, Yuugao helped him finish righting the tent. With a word of agreement, she stepped toward him and did not offer protest when Hayate reached out to remove her protective vest.

"It _does_ take a long time to clean blood," she agreed in an amiable tone.

But both of them forget to put their clothes in water.

---

"I saw your mission report from last month," Yuugao's new teammate told her when they met in ANBU headquarters to discuss an upcoming assignment.

She did not know very much about this man other than the fact that his given name was Tenzou, yet he preferred to go by his code name, Yamato. "It was simple," she replied, watching for a reaction. She knew she often came off as terse and unyielding to those unused to her. But there was no indication of offense or annoyance in Yamato's startlingly deep eyes.

"So I gathered. But you and Gekko-san stayed the night at the border before returning the following day."

His tone was a little too insinuating for Yuugao's patience and she said, "You're playing games."

"No," refuted Yamato, "merely prying."

"Why?"

"I have no problem with working with both you and Gekko-san, Uzuki-san." He smiled and took a gulp from the tea he had brought into headquarters in a disposable cup. "Actually, I'm looking forward to it. I've heard little criticism for your team."

Yuugao was grateful for the years she had spent on Kakashi's team. Without them, she would still be stuck in her former habit of avoiding as much talk as possible and deserting a conversation when it began to slide downhill. After all, the notion of disfavor for her, Kakashi, and Hayate was unheard of.

"What criticism?" she asked rather than leaving.

Yamato paused to recover from the derailment of his topic. "Well...just thing around the..." At the anticipatory expression beneath her fringe of bangs, he said, "Criticism regarding your performance on Kakashi-senpai's team."

"My evaluations have mentioned nothing."

"No, they wouldn't," Yamato conceded, almost sighing. "To be perfectly honest, my concerns involve that very issue. Please understand, as a servant of Konoha you have earned my full respect. But as a kunoichi..."

He spoke the word as though it were the title of some fate-mandated misfortune. Yuugao was intimately familiar with the tone used for that word in the way she was intimately familiar with every man she had killed under ANBU orders. Every time it reached her ears, her mind automatically translated it: if only she had been born male.

"If my skills impress you," questioned Yuugao, "then what about my gender concerns you?"

"Your relationship with Gekko-san is unadvisable. It is often accepted that appropriate emotional barriers between teammates are necessary."

"You're saying you think that mine and Hayate's 'emotional breaching' will get us killed, even though we have been together for over six months." Her voice was level enough for her meaning to run across the space between Yuugao and Yamato and kick the shinobi in the head. "Don't."

Yamato seemed relieved; her bluntness had spared him from posing the questions he had been uncomfortable with asking. In the next few seconds, his smile formed anew. "Fine."

That was unexpected. "Really," she stated, her dubiousness coming through even without an upward inflection.

"Yes. Your honesty truly settles my fears. As the 'criticism' of Kakashi senpai's team is nothing except the croaking of old men still adjusting to successful kunoichis, I rest any of my objections to what you decide to do with your life, Uzuki-san." Yamato bowed.

After only a moment's hesitation, Yuugao gave a bow of her own. She experienced the rare feeling that she could grow to like this man.

"Call me Yuugao," she invited him, her stance warming. "Now. Let's talk about the mission, shall we?"

_To Be Continued_


	11. Glimpses of Youth

**Author's Notes: **Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I've been getting ready to make a lot of life changes, which means less writing time, but never fear! I don't leave stories unfinished, no matter how long it takes. This is another sort of transitional chapter, but really fun to write!

Spoiler warning, as usual.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

**Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate**

By Nessie

Chapter Eleven: Glimpses of Youth

Yuugao's gaze was steadily fastened on the trio before her as they took turns walking up tree trunks using only their hands. Between the two boys, one a spot of loud sunshine in the shade of the leaves and the other a perfect molding of the shadows, a world of difficulty could be witnessed rotating them into frustration. Only the pink-haired girl showed any indication of imminent conquest, further tackling the new challenge with every scrape her chakra-powered palms took.

The ANBU kunoichi had never seen a more mismatched group. This was the renowned Team 7?

"Yuugao-san." She was not surprised that Kakashi had performed his usual materialization behind her on the edge of the training field, but Yuugao's expression was quizzical as she turned to face him. "Your reputation has grown so much in ANBU," Kakashi explained, a crease of a smile evident in his mask. "I thought you deserved a formal greeting."

Replied Yuugao, "I don't, of course, senpai." She recalled briefly the night they had met in her own yard and Kakashi had asked she leave off formality. Receiving it from him after years of working together was an absurd notion. "Please don't give me one."

"What brings you here?" asked the copy-nin with a slight nod to affirm his agreement.

The severe set of her mouth softened a little as she turned to look again at the Genin in the distance. "I had to come see it for myself; the famous Team 7 who took down Momochi Zabuza. I admit, I was surprised when I first heard you had finally accepted a team, Kakashi-sempai."

"Were you?" His tone was polite, but Yuugao detected the underlying amusement. "I thought I made my criteria fairly plain when I trained you."

"They...they get along then?"

"Superbly."

Even now, the blond boy was shouting at the solemn other whose eyes gleamed less indifferently than perhaps he thought while the girl stood by in wide-eyed alarm. Her hands were clasped to her chest, but she looked ready to interfere should the situation get out of hand.

"Say that again, Sasuke, you bastard!"

"I said, 'A drunk dog has better balance than you,' idiot."

"Naruto...S-Sasuke-kun, maybe you should just..."

Yuugao lifted both eyebrows at the display. "Really?"

"Certainly," insisted Kakashi without missing a beat. "Oh, they have energy, I guess. That's good in its way. I wouldn't let them enter the Chuunin Exams if they didn't."

"The Chuunin Exams!" It would have been an exclamation if Yuugao were accustomed to speaking less quietly. "Those three? But they're just twelve-year-olds!"

"You passed at thirteen," he reminded her. "Are you jealous?"

Yuugao set a hand on her hip and gestured toward Team 7 with the other. "It's dangerous. The three of them look like they'll explode on each other any minute. You want to send a prepubescent Uchiha, the Fourth's hyperactive son, and some girl with no ninja background into the Chuunin Exams at twelve?"

Kakashi's responding chuckle was not reassuring. "Aren't you unusually concerned for three children you don't even know, Yuugao?" Stepping forward to stand beside her, he surveyed his team using his uncovered eye. "They balance each other well. They've come a long way since the day I took them on. Much like yourself."

She stowed the rare praise away to be remembered sometime when she wasn't busy criticizing Kakashi's quality as a sensei. "And you're sure this has nothing to do with the fact that Gai-senpai's team is entering the Exams this year?"

"Well," he prevaricated honestly, "it'll be very interesting, don't you think?" His voice rose. "Hey! Naruto and Sasuke! If one of you throws a punch, neither of you will ever eat ramen on me again! And Sakura will get your share!"

In that threat, Kakashi effortlessly managed to terrify Naruto, irritate Sasuke, and embarrass Sakura. Yuugao began to feel less concern and more pity for the budding ninja. At least Yuugao had been forced to deal with Kakashi after the tumult of adolescence.

"Still liking your cell?" asked Kakashi after making sure his students went back to their own trees and resumed training.

"It's been three years, and I have no complaints. Yamato broke his ankle not long ago, but he'll return to work next week. Hayate and I have been doing smaller jobs in the meantime." She turned her head to look at him and found Kakashi's eyes already on her. His pleasant look had gone, replaced by a studious glance. She supposed he was unused to seeing her in civilian clothes, her hair pulled back in rebellion against the breezy day. The training field was a change from their encounters at Rin's grave as well.

Kakashi's face slipped back into easy amusement before a second had passed. "You're on your way to meet him?" At her nod, he added, "Say hello for me. It's been a long time since I saw him."

She promised to do so before turning, stealing another look at his team as she did. "They're in good shape, anyway." She offered him with the slightest of quirks to her colored lips. Observant as she was, Yuugao didn't notice the way Kakashi's eyes followed the sway of her ponytail as she left.

Hayate approved of her long-skirted tunic and the leggings she wore beneath it for convenience. She mentioned her visit to Team 7's training session as they walked to the blacksmith. The metal plate of Hayate's hitai-ate had been scarred on their last mission, and its repairs were due.

"He's even permitting them to enter the Chuunin Exams," she said, still bewildered.

"I know," said Hayate with a smile behind his fist as he finished a cough. "I'm proctoring the third test."

"The tournament? _You_ are?"

He took her hand, considerately with the one he hadn't hacked all over. "Would you please try not to sound so shocked in front of anyone else?" He afforded her a small grin. "After what I do regularly, do you think watching some Genins fight each other will be any real strain?"

"I didn't mean to sound like that," she told him in true backpedal form. Yuugao formed her next words carefully. "I just meant that if you take time off to proctor in the Exams, who will replace you for the duration?"

"No one. You and Yamato are ordered on vacation until after the Exams are over."

"_What_?"

Hayate gripped her hand more tightly and pulled her to the side of the street, where they stopped. Busy Konoha residents continued on their way without noticing them. "Yamato's ankle could still use some time. I know you don't like breaks, but I think it's nece—" He coughed into his sleeve. "Necessa—" A longer bout of coughs kept her waiting. "You need it," Hayate finished when he could.

"I don't," she argued shortly. "We were going to be sent to Grass while they had Chuunin in the Exams. I was hoping to..." Before she could finish, Hayate lifted the short sleeve of her tunic to reveal the three-inch width of bandages wrapping her right shoulder. A missing-nin's jutsu had cut her nearly to the bone. The wound, as Hayate knew, was three weeks old and still healing.

"You do," he ascertained. "We all do. And you like the Exams. You told Yamato last year it's like a free festival."

"That was before the festival was keeping me from fighting while kids get to do it instead."

Staring down at her over the half circles beneath his eyes, Hayate took a step out of his usual reserved character. He bent to press his soft smile to Yuugao's frown and kept it there until both smile and frown were erased.

"There," Hayate told her. "I've shown you public affection, and you are now embarrassed. You can fight _me_ later until you feel better."

The pink in her cheeks wasn't from embarrassment, and the thoughts Hayate had inspired in her hardly suggested fighting, but she returned a faint smile of her own anyway. "All right."

At the blacksmith's, they were told to wait while some finishing touches were made to Hayate's hitai-ate. Having spent so many hours here seeing to the weapon repairs Yuugao could not manage on her own, Yuugao would have known the place blind. But, she inwardly noted as Hayate discussed payment with the blacksmith's assistant, she had never seen the teenage girl there before.

Her hair, parted into two buns, was browner than chocolate and just a shade lighter than her huge eyes, currently fixed upon a display of throwable weapons at the shop's eastern wall. She tapped all ten fingertips against the edge of the display stand, impatient and yet indecisive as her eyes roved the shining blades in rapture.

At her side waited a boy her age, not close enough to touch her but near enough to keep at least part of her attention at all times. Everything about him, from his spotless gi to the straight fall of his black hair, was no less than immaculate. "We'll be late for evening training, Tenten," he said to his companion.

The girl snapped back without lifting her eyes from the array. "I've spent months saving from all those stupid D-rank missions, Neji. Don't rush me."

"Do you even have room for something new in your scroll?"

"I'll make room." She said this as though her companion should have known her better than that. "But do I want the rope dart or the chain coil?"

Yuugao was walking toward them before she even recognized the impulse to do so. Peering at the display as the pair of Genin turned to see her approach, she intoned, "I like the rope dart better. It springs back to you with faster reaction time."

The young girl named Tenten stared up in confusion at Yuugao while the boy watched with narrowed, white eyes. A Hyuuga, Yuugao noted. That explained the commanding tone of voice. She wished she'd had such an enviable partner on her team rather than the useless shinobi that had fallen through the cracks since those days. Tenten's face split with a smile as she asked, "But is this one made of good material? I don't want the rope to fray too soon!"

"It won't," Yuugao assured her with minimum vocal inflection. "You'll get at least four months' use out of it, if you alternate between other weapons. When it needs replacing, try leather instead of hemp. That won't cut as easily."

Enthusiastically thanking her and evoking a slight smile from Yuugao, Tenten turned to hastily gather her choice of the rope dart so she could make her purchase.

"That was very nice of you," commented Hayate when she rejoined him. He turned around so she could tie his cap at the base of his head for him. "Starting to feel like you should give back to the youth?"

"Do you think I've gotten old?" She only said it to watch the corners of his eyes crinkle as he laughed and dared her to prove otherwise on the training grounds. The truth was, Tenten reminded her very much of herself nine years ago. Yuugao followed him out the door, overhearing the two Genin once more.

"We're officially late. I hope you like that thing enough."

"Oh, lighten up, Neji. You don't even _wanna_ see Lee or Gai-sensei. I guess you're just not feeling very youthful today."

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
